The world must stop Israel's unprecedented assault on Palestinian children

A UN commission report released last month alleges that Israel is deliberately targeting Palestinian children in its ongoing campaign, detailing the deaths of over 20,000 Palestinian children and injuries to 44,000 others since October 2023. The report, grounded in international children's rights law, claims Israel's actions demonstrate an intent to erase the biological and social continuity of Palestinian society, documenting physical and mental harms, including starvation, trauma, and disabling injuries. It also highlights an increase in state and settler violence against children in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. The commission's research, based on open-source information and interviews, underscores the "unchilding" experience of Palestinian children, who have faced repeated displacements, educational devastation, and healthcare targeting. The report urges the international community to cease arms transfers to Israel, impose sanctions, and ensure prosecutions in international courts, stating that children themselves have pleaded, "We want to live, we want peace, we want to judge the killers of children."