- A UN commission alleges Israel committed genocide by targeting children.
- Israeli authorities reject the report as a libellous propaganda piece.
- Child fatalities reach 21,280 according to the Gaza health ministry.
A UN commission of inquiry claims that Israel has deliberately targeted Palestinian children, leading to genocide and war crimes. These acts are said to be part of a strategy to destroy the Palestinian future. Such operations reportedly occurred in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.
The report suggests that security forces caused death and severe harm to hundreds of thousands of kids. This violence is alleged to have persisted even after the October ceasefire. Killings continued after the ceasefire in Gaza, according to the findings of the expert panel.
Israel denies the genocide claims in the report
Israel’s foreign ministry utterly rejects the findings, calling it a « libellous sham ». The ministry asserts that the report is a « propaganda piece ». It is claimed that the commission lacks a credible verification mechanism for its claims and ignores Israeli victims.
The military campaign began after the 7 October 2023 attack where 1,200 people died. Since then, 73,035 people were killed in Gaza. More than 21,280 children have been killed based on data from the Hamas-run health ministry, which the UN views as reliable.
Srinivasan Muralidhar, who chairs the commission stated that the survival of children is inseparable from self-determination. He argued that by targeting youngsters, Israel is attacking the capacity of the people to exist. He notes a continued disregard for international law.
The report details the use of quadcopter drones and snipers to shoot vital organs. It also mentions attacks on neonatal and paediatric hospitals in Gaza. Furthermore, starvation is alleged to be used as a method of war causing acute malnutrition in kids.
