Israel continues to commit genocide by targeting children in Gaza, UN inquiry finds | First Thing

Good morning. Israel continues to commit genocide by deliberately targeting Palestinian children in Gaza, an ⁠ independent UN inquiry has found . The report by the UN independent international commission of inquiry examined violations against Palestinian children since the start of the war in Gaza, and said about 30% of the people killed by Israeli forces have been children. A previous report by the commission in September found Israel had committed genocide in Gaza and that Israeli officials, including the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, incited these acts. Netanyahu is separately wanted by the international criminal court for war crimes. What does the report say? That Palestinian children were deliberately targeted and killed during the ‌war, including after a ceasefire came into effect ‌in October 2025. “The evidence shows that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by the Israeli security forces,” Srinivasan Muralidhar, the commission’s chair, said in a statement accompanying the report . How has Israel ’s government reacted? The Israeli mission in Geneva said Israel rejected the commission’s “libellous sham”. The country has fought hard against allegations of genocide, while receiving critical diplomatic support from its allies including the US and the UK. …