{"id":128174,"date":"2026-06-23T22:29:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-23T17:29:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/?p=128174"},"modified":"2026-06-23T22:29:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-23T17:29:09","slug":"israels-deliberate-targeting-of-children-part-of-ongoing-gaza-genocide-un-probe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nationaltimes.pk\/eng\/2026\/128174\/","title":{"rendered":"Israel’s ‘deliberate targeting’ of children part of ongoing Gaza genocide: UN probe"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Web desk(National Times)- Israel is deliberately targeting\u00a0Palestinian children<\/a>\u00a0in what has become a key factor in an ongoing \u201cgenocide\u201d in Gaza, United Nations investigators charged on Tuesday, in a report slammed by Israel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry said it had found evidence that \u201cPalestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed<\/a> by Israeli security forces\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This, it said, was a key factor in establishing \u201cthe genocidal intent of the Israeli authorities and security forces to destroy the larger Palestinian group in Gaza\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The three-member investigative team, which does not speak for the UN itself, first determined in a report last September that Israel had committed \u201cgenocide<\/a>\u201d during its assault in Gaza \u2014 a finding Israel flatly rejected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Tuesday\u2019s follow-up report, they said the intense scale and systematic nature of Israeli military operations had continued, resulting in the \u201cunprecedented\u201d death, injury and trauma of Palestinian children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were \u201creasonable grounds\u201d to conclude that Israel\u2019s authorities and security forces \u201chave continued to commit the crime of genocide\u201d in Gaza, they said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israel, which has long been harshly critical of the commission, slammed the report as \u201cdefamatory\u201d and a \u201clibellous sham\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It accused the investigators of ignoring \u201cthe brutal tactics of Hamas\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Childhood \u2018erased\u2019 in Gaza<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The commission, which was established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021, examined for its latest report crimes affecting Palestinian children, and how living conditions imposed by Israel in Gaza were \u201cresulting in preventable mortality of children\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIsraeli authorities and security forces have deliberately targeted Palestinian children, resulting in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Gaza Strip, and war crimes in the West Bank,\u201d the team said in a statement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commission said that severe physical and mental injuries, mass trauma, orphanhood, separation, disability, repeated displacements, starvation and the collapse of education and healthcare had \u201cerased childhood\u201d in Gaza and would continue to affect the territory\u2019s children throughout their lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy targeting children, Israel is attacking the very capacity of the Palestinian people to exist and to determine their future,\u201d said judge Srinivasan Muralidhar, who chairs the inquiry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cEven after the October 2025 ceasefire, children continue to be killed and seriously injured.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>\u2018Strategy to destroy\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The report comes days after the UN children\u2019s agency Unicef said at least 265 children had been killed and hundreds more wounded in Gaza since the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unicef said children had been shot, bombed and struck by quadcopters, killed in tents, in schools and while playing football or fishing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The UN inquiry said that during the first two years of the Israeli assault, at least 20,179 children were killed and 44,143 injured \u201cas a direct result of the hostilities in Gaza\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The killing and maiming of Palestinian children \u201cwas part of a strategy to destroy the biological continuity and future existence of the Palestinian group in Gaza\u201d, it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/a>Disability a \u2018demographic reality\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By targeting children, the report said, \u201cIsrael is eroding the foundational structure of Palestinian society, weakening the demographic vitality\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Israel was responsible for causing a \u201csevere orphan crisis\u201d, while wounded youngsters \u201cface a lifetime of disability\u201d \u2014 now \u201ca defining demographic reality\u201d among Gaza\u2019s children, it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The siege of Gaza \u201cdirectly undermined reproductive and newborn health\u201d, while the collapse of public health programmes \u201ceroded the conditions necessary for a healthy next generation\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The report listed Israeli divisions, brigades and units that may be responsible for killing children, in specific incidents in Gaza and the West Bank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Besides Gaza, the commission also documented a sharp increase in violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinian children in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The commission urged all UN member states, including Israel, to ensure accountability for crimes committed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Web desk(National Times)- Israel is deliberately targeting\u00a0Palestinian children\u00a0in what has become a key factor in an ongoing \u201cgenocide\u201d in Gaza, United Nations investigators charged on Tuesday, in a report slammed by Israel. The UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry said it had found evidence that \u201cPalestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by Israeli security forces\u201d. 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