UN Inquiry Details Alleged Crimes Against Palestinian Children

[00:00:00]Thank you, Todd. Good afternoon, everyone.

[00:00:03]I would like to start the press conference by announcing that today the commission has released a 100-page report documenting violations and crimes committed by Israel against Palestinian children in the occupied Palestinian territory since 7th October 2023 until 31st March 2026.

[00:00:25]We just briefed member states this morning on the report's findings.

[00:00:30]The commission's comprehensive report is unique being the first specialized report on crimes and violations against Palestinian children in Palestine by UN investigative body.

[00:00:43]The report draws partially on earlier findings of the commission as published in previous reports while incorporating newly collected evidence and investigated cases.

[00:00:57]The commission found indisputable evidence with regards to the deliberate, targeted killing of Palestinian children including since the October 2025 ceasefire the use of torture inhumane and degrading treatment including use of sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinian children as well as targeting of critical infrastructure essential to children such as orphanages, health care, and educational facilities.

[00:01:31]There has been a widespread and systematic killing and harming of children between 7th October 2023 and 7th October 2025.

[00:01:41]We have witnessed more than 20,000 children who've been killed and more than 44,000 children who've been injured.

[00:01:50]Children constitute 30% of all those killed in OPT and the killing and injuring of children has been a continuing activity.

[00:02:03]Children are being killed mainly in two ways.

[00:02:07]One, through air strikes using high-yield explosives with wide area effects.

[00:02:14]And second, using quadcopters, drones, and sniper rifles that specifically target and kill children to their head and upper body.

[00:02:26]There is also a severe orphan crisis with an estimated 58,554 children who lost one or both parents between 7th October 2023 and 7th October 2025.

[00:02:41]There has been a systematic disruption by Israel of the children's ability to learn, thereby sabotaging the intellectual and social foundations of the Palestinian society.

[00:02:55]The commission's findings are that Israel targets children to weaken demographic vitality and deny the Palestinian people's right to self-determination.

[00:03:07]97% of all schools have been destroyed.

[00:03:12]95% of the universities have been affected in Gaza.

[00:03:17]22 out of the 38 universities have been completely destroyed.

[00:03:23]We have found the use of starvation and imposition of conditions of life obstructing children's survival.

[00:03:31]As of 1st October 2025, there have been 151 children's deaths on account of malnutrition.

[00:03:41]We've also found that between October and December 2023, there have been at least more than a thousand instances of children undergoing amputation of one or more limbs.

[00:03:55]Based on all the evidence gathered, the report makes legal findings and concludes that the Israeli authorities and the Israeli security forces have deliberately targeted and killed Palestinian children and destroyed their childhood.

[00:04:09]Israeli authorities and the Israeli security forces are responsible for crimes against humanity, including persecution and war crimes in the Gaza Strip and war crimes in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

[00:04:23]The report released today further substantiates our finding on genocide.

[00:04:33]The protection, care, and survival of Palestinian children and pregnant women are inextricably linked to the Palestinian people's fundamental right to self-determination as children represent the future bearers of their collective identity and resilience.

[00:04:49]By targeting children, Israel is eroding the foundational structure of Palestinian society, weakening the democratic vitality, and overall capacity of the Palestinian people to sustain and exercise its right to determine its future as a people.

[00:05:10]Our report concludes that the settler violence in the West Bank functions as a means of implementing Israeli state policies with both the state and violent settler groups working in collaboration towards the same strategic objective, unlawful territorial expansion.

[00:05:29]It also concludes that Hamas has repeatedly committed grave abuses against Palestinians in Gaza using the cover of Israeli military offensives and the broader collapse of law and order to carry out campaigns of repression, torture, and unlawful killings of Palestinians.

[00:05:48]This was stated by us in our report which we presented to the Human Rights Council on 15th June 2026.

[00:05:58]The report by the Board of Peace to the Security Council in May this year, pursuant to the Security Council resolution 2803, claims that the conditions for Palestinians in Gaza have improved.

[00:06:11]This contradicts the findings of this commission.

[00:06:14]The Israeli Prime Minister has been clear.

[00:06:16]Israel aims to seize at least 70% of the Gaza Strip in clear violation of the ceasefire agreement and international law.

[00:06:25]The reality is that Palestinians continue to be killed and harmed in Gaza even after the ceasefire was announced in October last year.

[00:06:33]And the amount of humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza remains very much below the necessary levels needed.

[00:06:42]Lastly, the commission condemns the severe mistreatment of the flotilla activists detained by the Israeli forces.

[00:06:50]Such public disregard of international law would support the findings of the commission in previous reports that Palestinian detainees were severely mistreated, including tortured, raped, and sexually abused by Israeli forces.

[00:07:05]The commission welcomes the opening of the judicial investigations in a number of countries about these events.

[00:07:13]We are grateful for the support expressed by many member states to the commission's mandate and work, including during last week's Human Rights Council interactive dialogue.

[00:07:24]In this report, we made a series of recommendations to the State of Israel and to the member states, as well as the Security Council, which we hope that the member states will act upon and the other bodies to whom we have addressed them will act upon.

[00:07:40]We intend to continue pursuing the fulfillment of our mandate including in relation to making recommendations in particular on accountability measures with a view to preventing and ending ending impunity and ensuring accountability including state responsibility and individual criminal and command responsibility.