The United Nations Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory has concluded that Israeli authorities and security forces have "deliberately targeted and killed Palestinian children and destroyed their childhood," and are responsible for crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

The Commission is chaired by Dr. S Muralidhar, former High Court Chief Justice who is presently a Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court of India.

Presenting the Commission's latest report on Tuesday, Muralidhar said the 100-page document examined violations and crimes committed against Palestinian children in the occupied Palestinian territory between October 7, 2023 and March 31, 2026.

"The Commission found indisputable evidence with regards to the deliberate targeted killing of Palestinian children," Justice Muralidhar said while releasing the report, describing it as the first specialized UN investigative report focused exclusively on crimes and violations against Palestinian children.

"Israeli authorities and the Israeli security forces have deliberately targeted and killed Palestinian children and destroyed their childhood. 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," the report stated.

According to the report, more than 20,000 Palestinian children have been killed and over 44,000 injured since October 7, 2023. Children account for nearly 30 per cent of all deaths in the occupied Palestinian territory during the period under review.

The Commission found that children were killed primarily through airstrikes involving high-yield explosives and through targeted attacks using quadcopter drones, sniper rifles and other weapons aimed at children's heads and upper bodies.

"There has been a widespread and systematic killing and harming of children," Justice Muralidhar said.

The report also documents what it describes as a severe orphan crisis. An estimated 58,054 children lost one or both parents between October 2023 and October 2025.

The Commission further found that Israel had systematically disrupted access to education, resulting in what it termed the destruction of the intellectual and social foundations of Palestinian society. According to the report, 97 per cent of schools in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged, while 95 per cent of universities have been affected. Twenty-two of Gaza's 38 universities were reportedly completely destroyed.

The report also details the humanitarian consequences of the conflict, including starvation and the imposition of living conditions threatening children's survival. It records 151 child deaths due to malnutrition as of October 1, 2025, and notes that more than 1,000 children underwent amputations of one or more limbs between October and December 2023.

Based on the evidence collected, the Commission concluded that Israeli authorities and security forces are responsible for crimes against humanity, including persecution, as well as war crimes in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

"The report released today further substantiates our finding on genocide," Justice Muralidhar stated.

The Commission said that attacks on children were aimed at weakening the demographic vitality of Palestinians and undermining their right to self-determination. It observed that the protection and survival of Palestinian children were intrinsically linked to the future of Palestinian society.

The report also examined developments in the West Bank, concluding that settler violence functions as a mechanism for implementing Israeli state policies. It found that state authorities and violent settler groups were acting in pursuit of a common objective of unlawful territorial expansion.

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.

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. 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.

At the same time, the Commission reiterated findings from its June 15, 2026 report that Hamas had committed grave abuses against Palestinians in Gaza, including repression, torture and unlawful killings, exploiting the breakdown of law and order during the conflict.

Muralidhar also rejected suggestions that conditions in Gaza had significantly improved following the October 2025 ceasefire. Referring to a report submitted to the UN Security Council earlier this year, he said the Commission's findings showed that Palestinians continued to be killed and harmed after the ceasefire and that humanitarian assistance remained far below required levels.

The Commission additionally condemned the treatment of Flotilla activists detained by Israeli forces, stating that such conduct reinforced its earlier findings regarding the mistreatment, torture and sexual abuse of Palestinian detainees.

Muralidhar said the Commission welcomed the initiation of judicial investigations in several countries concerning events in Gaza and expressed hope that member states, the UN Security Council and other international bodies would act on the report's recommendations.

The Commission said it would continue its work on accountability measures aimed at ending impunity and ensuring both state responsibility and individual criminal and command responsibility for violations of international law.

It was in November 2025 that Muralidhar was appointed as the head of the Commission. Florence Mumba of Zambia and Chris Sidoti of Australia are the other members.