“Israeli authorities and security forces deliberately targeted Palestinian children, resulting in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza, and war crimes in the occupied West Bank,” an independent U.N. inquiry said on Tuesday (June 23, 2026).
International criminal law, as codified in the Rome Statute of the Internation Criminal Court (ICC) and customary international law, defines genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes and recognises that these offences may be committed against children and produce child specific harms.
What is the crime of genocide?
According to Article 6 of the Rome statute of the ICC, “genocide” means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such.
The acts include, killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part, imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group, forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
What are crimes against humanity?
Under Article 7 of the Rome Statute, crimes against humanity are specific acts committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population, with knowledge of that attack.
The Rome Statute lists a range of acts that may constitute crimes against humanity, including murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation or forcible transfer of populations, unlawful imprisonment, torture, rape and other forms of sexual violence, persecution of identifiable groups on political, racial, national, ethnic, cultural, religious or gender grounds, enforced disappearance, apartheid, and other inhumane acts intentionally causing great suffering or serious physical or mental harm.
What are war crimes?
Article 8 of the Rome Statute defines war crimes as serious violations of international humanitarian law committed during an armed conflict. The Court exercises jurisdiction particularly where such crimes are committed as part of a plan or policy or on a large scale.
War crimes include grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, such as wilful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury, unlawful destruction or seizure of property, compelling prisoners of war to serve hostile forces, denying prisoners a fair trial, unlawful deportation or confinement, and taking hostages.
The statute also criminalises a broader range of serious violations of the laws and customs of war. The statute applies these prohibitions to both international and non-international armed conflicts. In conflicts within a state’s territory, war crimes also include violence against persons not participating in hostilities, cruel treatment, torture, humiliating and degrading treatment, hostage-taking, executions without a fair trial, forced displacement of civilians unless justified by imperative military reasons, attacks on humanitarian and medical personnel, and destruction of property not justified by military necessity among other offences.
Findings similar to previous reports
In a previous report dated September 16, 2025, the Commission has found that the Israeli authorities and Israeli security forces have committed and are continuing to commit four categories of underlying acts of genocide in the Gaza Strip with the specific intent to destroy, in whole or in part, the Palestinian group, as such. Three of those four categories are especially relevant to children, namely (i) killing members of the group; (ii) causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; and (iii) deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part.
They have also found that the elements for crimes against humanity have been fulfilled in Gaza, namely that attacks by the Israeli security forces since October 7, 2023 have involved “multiple commission of acts” directed against any civilian population that are widespread or systematic; and that were committed as part of the attack.
The Commission has found in a previous report in September 2025 that (i) the extensive and deliberate targeting of Palestinians, including children, showed that the military operations were not conducted solely to defeat Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups as Israeli officials claimed, nor can they legitimately contribute to the other stated goals of defending the state of Israel and securing the release of Israeli hostages; and (ii) the direct and intentional targeting of Palestinian children was intended to physically destroy the larger Palestinian group in Gaza.
The Commission finds that Israeli security forces have committed the following war crimes against and affecting Palestinian children, consistent with its findings in previous reports: willful killing, torture and inhuman and degrading treatment causing severe physical and psychological harm, willfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health through deliberate deprivation and violence, intentionally directing attacks against the civilian population and individuals not taking direct part in hostilities, including children, destruction of property, and outrages upon personal dignity, particularly through systematic humiliating and degrading conduct designed to dehumanise and subjugate the Palestinian population, including children.
The report says that Israel continues to blatantly disregard the International Court of Justice (ICJ) advisory opinion of 19 July 2024 in respect of the ‘Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem’, and importantly, the orders for provisional measures issued on 26 January, 28 March 2024 and 24 May 2024 in the case of the ‘Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel)’, which are binding on Israel. In the case, South Africa accuses Israeli forces of genocide, but it could take years to reach a conclusion.
The Commission’s findings, though not judicial determinations, may inform ongoing international investigations and proceedings.
Published – June 26, 2026 04:48 pm IST
