The situation in the Gaza Strip is alarming. Despite so‑called ceasefire efforts, the escalation of conflict shows no sign of abating. Women and children account for a disproportionate share of fatalities and face extreme vulnerability. Recurrent displacement, starvation, and the collapse of medical care have come to define their daily existence. The humanitarian crisis—unprecedented in scale and magnitude—has left thousands of women and children homeless, forcing them to seek refuge in schools, hospitals, or UN shelters. The impact on their health, safety, and overall well‑being has been devastating.
Israeli bombardment and ground operations have systematically destroyed shelters. The UNFPA has revealed that an estimated 50,000 pregnant women—more than 5,000 of whom are expected to give birth within the next month—are cut off from safe delivery services as hospitals come under attack and the health system unravels. Life‑saving medicines, fuel, and electricity are running dangerously low. In the West Bank, around 73,000 women are currently pregnant, with over 8,000 expected to deliver in the coming month, as violence threatens to spill over into their communities.
Against this backdrop, the recent inquiry report by Justice Srinivasan Muralidhar assumes particular salience. Justice Muralidhar, an Indian judge, chairs the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel. He has submitted the Commission’s report covering the period from 7 October 2023 to 31 March 2026. In this investigation, he documents the horrific story of genocide committed by the Israeli military against Palestinians in Gaza. It may be recalled that the Commission was established on 27 May 2021 during a special session of the UN Human Rights Council, with the mandate to investigate alleged violations of international law and human rights abuses, and to examine the root causes of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
The Commission’s report is titled “The Essence of Childhood Has Been Destroyed.”
The report states:
“The evidence shows that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by Israeli security forces.”
It further notes:
“Even after the October 2025 ceasefire, children continued 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.”
Justice Muralidhar further observed:
“The protection, care, and survival of Palestinian children are inseparable from the Palestinian people’s right to self‑determination.”
Israel’s systematic targeting of Palestinian children, he argues, amounts to a wound inflicted upon an entire generation.
Iftikhar Gilani, in his piece in Frontline dated 26 June 2026, has documented harrowing incidents of cruelty:
- A five‑year‑old girl trapped in a car beside the bodies of her dead relatives.
- Two brothers, aged nine and ten, killed while collecting firewood for their disabled father.
- A teenager carrying a white flag, shot while obeying an evacuation order.
Children have undergone amputations without anaesthesia. More than 20,000 children have reportedly been killed, and tens of thousands more injured. Many more are believed to be buried under the rubble, unaccounted for.
Justice Muralidhar has stated that children are being killed mainly in two ways: first, through airstrikes using high‑yield explosives with wide‑area effects; and second, through the use of quadcopters, drones, and sniper rifles that specifically target children—particularly to the head and upper body. These findings are based on evidence collected by the Commission from satellite imagery, audio recordings, and forensic analysis. He further asserts:
“By targeting children, Israel is attacking the very capacity of the Palestinian people to exist and to determine their future.”
The protection, care, and survival of Palestinian children, he reiterates, are inseparable from the Palestinian people’s right to self‑determination.
The central message of Justice Muralidhar’s report is not about geopolitics or diplomacy—it is about a generation that remains an inseparable part of humanity. The report argues that the cumulative impact of killings, injuries, starvation, displacement, and institutional destruction constitutes an assault on the very foundation of Palestinian society. Among the Commission’s other recommendations are demands for an end to violations against Palestinian children, accountability for those responsible, and greater international engagement in protecting civilian populations. It calls on UN member states to uphold their obligations under international law and to ensure access to justice for victims.
The Israeli government and its diplomatic representatives have condemned the document as defamatory and biased, asserting that it ignores the complex realities of the conflict. Justice Muralidhar has rejected these criticisms. This is a politically sensitive moment. Israel faces increasing diplomatic pressure in Europe. The International Criminal Court’s investigations continue to cast a shadow over its leadership. Several European governments that once offered support to Israel now face domestic pressure from their own populations over the situation in Gaza. There is also a visible strain in the relationship between Washington and Tel Aviv over the conduct of the war, humanitarian access, and the future political architecture of Gaza.
Attacks on children should not be viewed as mere collateral consequences of war; they must be understood within a broader framework of rights, identity, and collective survival. Gaza has lost lives—and it has also lost an entire generation’s future. Bill Van Esveld, Associate Director for Children’s Rights at Human Rights Watch, has aptly remarked:
“When the UN finds that a military kills and wounds children on an industrial scale, tortures and sexually assaults them, and denies them water and medicine, the rest of the world has one clear obligation—cut off that military’s access to weapons and support accountability.”
Will the United States, European nations, and other allies of Israel muster the courage to do so?
