UN Commission Report Details Child Casualty Figures and Israeli Response in Gaza

A United Nations commission of inquiry released a report on June 23, 2026, stating that Israeli authorities and security forces deliberately targeted Palestinian children in Gaza. The commission, established by the United Nations Human Rights Council, examined events from the October 7, 2023 start of the war through October 2025.

It recorded at least 20,179 Palestinian children killed in Gaza by October 7, 2025, representing around 30 percent of total deaths and exceeding the 24 percent share recorded in the 2008-09 and 2014 conflicts.

The report stated that Israeli forces continued using high-payload munitions and wide-area weapons in densely populated residential areas. It found that killings of children continued after a ceasefire took effect in October 2025. The commission also documented war crimes against children in the occupied West Bank.

" The report defined a child as under 18 and stated that evidence showed Israeli security forces considered the civilian population as a whole associated with Hamas and other armed groups. The commission identified specific Israeli security force units it accused of responsibility for the deaths of Palestinian children.

Israel's mission in Geneva rejected the report as the commission's second defamatory advocacy document. The mission stated that the report ignored Hamas's tactics and that Israel consistently strives to minimize harm to children. It dismissed any suggestion that Israel deliberately targets children.