Drones and decomposing babies: What’s in UN report on Israel’s genocide of Palestinian children
Wounded children wait for medical care at Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on 25 May 2026
Sondos Asem reports in Middle East Eye on 25 June 2026:
Israeli forces deliberately targeted Palestinian children as a central element of their genocide in Gaza, the UN’s top investigative body on Palestine and Israel concluded this week.
The finding comes in an 88-page report examining the full scope of harm inflicted on children since 7 October 2023, from precision shootings by snipers and drones to torture in detention, reproductive violence and the destruction of schools and hospitals.
“The evidence shows that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by the Israeli security forces,” said Srinivasan Muralidhar, chair of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel.
“Even after the October 2025 ceasefire, children continue to be killed and seriously injured, with continued disregard by Israel for the ceasefire and for the protection owed to Palestinian children under international law,” the Indian lawyer and judge said.
The commission, which previously concluded that Israel bore responsibility for genocide in Gaza, found that children were targeted in two ways: directly, through precision weapons including quadcopters and sniper rifles, and indirectly, through the systematic destruction of the conditions necessary for their survival.
It named specific Israeli military units responsible for killings and urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to prioritise crimes against children in its ongoing investigation. Below, we highlight the report’s key findings.
At least 20,179 children killed
Between the Hamas-led attack of 7 October 2023 and 7 October 2025, Israeli military operations killed at least 20,179 children and wounded 44,143 others in Gaza, representing 30 percent of those killed and 26 percent of those injured.
Children under five accounted for at least 5,031 of the deaths, including 1,029 under the age of one and around 420 newborns. A further 5,160 children are estimated to be buried under rubble. The commission noted that the true figure is certainly higher, as many deaths went unrecorded.