UN inquiry finds Israel committed age-based persecution of Palestinian children in West Bank

Israeli authorities and forces have committed the crime against humanity of age-based persecution against Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank, the UN's top investigative body on Palestine and Israel has concluded, while also accusing Israel of continuing its genocide in Gaza despite a ceasefire agreement. In its fifth report to the UN General Assembly, published on Monday, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, said Israeli forces had "deliberately killed and caused serious bodily and mental harm to Palestinian children on account of their status as Palestinian children". The report said the harm inflicted on children "is not incidental or collateral" to the wider violence, but "forms part of a pattern of intentional violence directed against Palestinian children", amounting to the crime against humanity of persecution. Read more: UN inquiry finds Israel committed age-based persecution of Palestinian children in West Bank Children watch as Israeli security forces deploy nearby in the Palestinian village of al-Mughayyir, near Ramallah in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, on 29 September 2026 (AFP)