Israel Continues Its Genocide by Targeting Palestinian Children
“The essence of childhood has been destroyed.”
It is hard to conceptualise the scale of suffering documented in the recent findings from the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, which examines Israel’s deliberate targeting of Palestinian children.
Since October 7, 2023, at least 20,179 Palestinian children have been killed and 44,143 injured. At least 1,029 of those children were under the age of one, and 420 were newborns. These killings have continued after the October 2025 ceasefire. Palestinian children have been subject to torture, inhumane and degrading treatment, including sexual and gender-based violence.
“There can be no doubt in anyone who reads today’s report that every international legal norm has been violated by the actions of the Israeli authorities towards Palestinian children and they need to be held accountable,” says Commissioner Chris Sidoti.
Gaza now has the highest concentration of child amputees in the world.
“…through the nature, scale and extent of Israel’s military operations in Gaza, the Israeli government and security forces have deliberately carried out acts inflicting death and severe bodily and mental harm on hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children, irreparably destroying the sanctity of childhood, including family ties, identity, innocence, safety and future. The Commission found that much of the harm suffered by Palestinian children was not incidental but intended to destroy the existence of the Palestinians in Gaza as a group. Since children embody the biological and social continuity of the group, the Commission has reasonable grounds to conclude that these acts form part of a deliberate strategy to destroy the future of the Palestinians in Gaza by targeting their children.”
The Sydney Peace Foundation calls upon the Australian government to follow all recommendations set out by the Commission.
Israel must be held accountable for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity.
Photo credit: IFRC