UN claims Israel deliberately targeted Gaza children during and after war; Netanyahu government rejects allegation
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "UN claims Israel deliberately targeted Gaza children during and after war; Netanyahu government rejects allegation")
A Palestinian child plays in an impoverished area of the Khan Yunis refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip on July 29, 2018. Photograph: (AFP)
A UN inquiry accused Israeli forces of deliberately targeting Palestinian children, alleging war crimes and genocidal intent. Israel rejected the report, calling it a libellous sham that ignores Hamas tactics.
Israeli authorities and security forces deliberately targeted Palestinian children in Gaza, resulting in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, while also committing war crimes against children in the occupied West Bank, according to a United Nations inquiry released on Tuesday (23 June).
The findings were published by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, which examined alleged violations against Palestinian children since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war on 7 October 2023.
The commission said that around 30 per cent of those killed in the Gaza conflict were children and added that Palestinian minors had been deliberately targeted by Israeli authorities and security forces. It described the killings as a key element in establishing what it called genocidal intent to destroy the Palestinian group, in whole or in part, in Gaza.
"The evidence shows that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by the Israeli security forces," commission chair Srinivasan Muralidhar said in a statement accompanying the report.
What did Israel say in response?
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Israel rejected the findings. In a statement, Israel's mission in Geneva described the report as the commission's "second defamatory advocacy report" and said it "dismisses this libellous sham".
"Every child deserves protection," the mission said, arguing that the report ignored what it called the "brutal tactics of Hamas".
Israel also rejected allegations that it deliberately targets children, saying it "consistently strives to minimise harm to children even in situations of conflict". The mission further argued that the report failed to acknowledge Israel's role in facilitating vaccinations, allowing the entry of medical personnel and establishing field hospitals.
