Polls | Gaza | Fact Checker | Support Us
Sign In | Join Free |
UK FACT CHECK POLITICS

UK FACT CHECK POLITICS

 Voting intention Reform Ref 24% Labour Lab 22% Con Con 19% Green Grn 13% Lib Dem LD 12% Poll tracker
UK Fact Check
Categories
Latest
Support Us
Search Articles
About
Get Involved
Account
Follow Us

UN inquiry concludes Israel is committing genocide in Gaza by deliberately targeting children

ukfactcheck.com 30 June 2026 at 02:14 View original article →

The original link is the material being checked. It may contain false or misleading claims — we link for transparency, not endorsement.

72/100
Verdict Mixed Mixed (Mostly Supported, with some Unverified details)

The article’s core assertion—that a UN Human Rights Council-mandated Commission of Inquiry (COI) released a report alleging reasonable grounds to believe Israel committed genocide/atrocity crimes and war crimes specifically involving harm to Palestinian children—is strongly supported by recent primary UN-system publication and multiple reputable secondary reports (dated June 2026).

✓ 5 checks out ✕ 0 disputed ? 5 unverified
☰ Full analysis The complete summary ⌄

The article’s core assertion—that a UN Human Rights Council-mandated Commission of Inquiry (COI) released a report alleging reasonable grounds to believe Israel committed genocide/atrocity crimes and war crimes specifically involving harm to Palestinian children—is strongly supported by recent primary UN-system publication and multiple reputable secondary reports (dated June 2026). However, several granular allegations (e.g., specific weapons tactics such as “precision weapons aimed at vital organs”, “quadcopter drones”, and “hundreds of thousands of children” harmed) are not verifiable from the evidence retrieved within this check without directly reviewing the underlying COI report text in full. Quantitative casualty claims (73,000 killed; 21,000 children) align with contemporaneous reporting from Gaza’s Health Ministry as relayed by reputable outlets, but require careful framing because they are conflict-zone figures and disputed by Israel. Overall, the piece is broadly consistent with available sources, with caveats around precise numbers and highly specific conduct descriptions.

What checked out (5)
  • A UN Human Rights Council-mandated Independent International Commission of Inquiry (Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel) issued a report in June 2026 alleging Israeli authorities/security forces deliberately targeted Palestinian children in Gaza, and describing this as genocide/atrocity crimes, while also describing war crimes in the West Bank.
  • Srinivasan Muralidhar is identified as chair of the Commission of Inquiry in connection with the June 2026 report and made public statements about children continuing to be killed/seriously injured even after an October 2025 ceasefire.
  • The COI operates under a UN Human Rights Council mandate and is described as an independent body (i.e., it does not speak for the UN as a whole).
  • The COI previously produced a legal analysis/report concluding on ‘reasonable grounds’ that Israeli authorities/security forces committed four of the five genocidal acts defined in the 1948 Genocide Convention (as presented in September 2025 documentation and related UN-system releases).
  • The COI has previously addressed and found that Hamas/other Palestinian armed groups committed war crimes/serious violations during the 7 October 2023 attacks, including in relation to Israeli children.
? Unverified claims 5 claims ⌄
  • The report alleges Israeli authorities/security forces have inflicted death, serious physical injuries and severe psychological harm on “hundreds of thousands” of Palestinian children since October 2023 (scale figure not confirmed from sources opened in this check).
  • Specific operational details claimed in the article—sniper fire, quadcopter drones, and ‘precision weapons aimed at vital organs’—as deliberate targeting mechanisms (not confirmed from sources opened here; would require direct review of the COI report’s evidentiary basis).
  • The article’s claim that the COI ‘is not the first time’ it accused Israel of genocide in a report published ‘last year’ (the COI made genocide-related findings in September 2025; whether the article’s ‘last year’ framing is accurate depends on the article’s publication date, which is not provided).
  • The exact breakdown ‘more than 73,000 Palestinians killed including over 21,000 children’ as of the article’s writing (the 73,000+ total is supported in late-June 2026 reporting, but the 21,000 children figure was not directly corroborated in the sources opened here).
  • The article’s description that the UN ‘widely cites’ Gaza Health Ministry figures (UN entities do reference these figures frequently, but this specific phrasing was not verified in the retrieved sources).
⌕ Sources & how we checked Search journal, source grades, confidence ⌄
Confidence

Medium — High confidence in the article’s central claim about the COI’s June 2026 report and attribution to chair Srinivasan Muralidhar, supported by a UN Geneva primary release and multiple reputable outlets with close dates. Medium confidence overall because several detailed factual allegations and at least one key quantitative claim (child-death figure) were not directly corroborated in the sources opened here without reviewing the full COI report and/or detailed casualty breakdowns.

Search journal

Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel report reasonable grounds to believe Israel committed genocide targeting Palestinian children Gaza published report chair Srinivasan Muralidhar

UN Commission of Inquiry ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hamas October 2025

Gaza health ministry 73000 killed 21000 children since October 2023 figure June 2026

UN commission of inquiry 2024 report reasonable grounds to believe Israel committed four of five acts under Genocide Convention

≡ The article we checked Full text as retrieved ⌄
<p>A United Nations commission of inquiry has concluded that there are reasonable grounds to believe Israel has committed genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes by deliberately targeting Palestinian children in Gaza, while also documenting alleged war crimes against children in the occupied West Bank.</p> <p>In a newly published report, the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel alleges that Israeli authorities and security forces have deliberately inflicted death, serious physical injuries and severe psychological harm on hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children since the war began in October 2023.</p> <p>According to the commission, the evidence suggests these actions form part of a deliberate strategy aimed at destroying the future of the Palestinian people by targeting their youngest generation.</p> <p>The report also states that children have continued to be killed and seriously injured despite the ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hamas in October 2025.</p> <p>Srinivasan Muralidhar, the chair of the commission, said the scale and systematic nature of Israel’s military operations had resulted in unprecedented levels of death, injury and trauma among Palestinian children.</p> <p>He argued that the protection of Palestinian children is inseparable from the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, adding that attacks on children undermine the future existence of Palestinian society.</p> <p>The commission alleges that Palestinian children have been directly targeted by Israeli forces through sniper fire, quadcopter drones and precision weapons aimed at vital organs, while large-scale airstrikes on residential buildings, schools and displacement camps have caused mass casualties among children.</p> <p>It also accuses Israel of failing to protect Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank from violence by Israeli soldiers and settlers.</p> <p>The report further alleges that Palestinian children, particularly adolescent boys, have been subjected to arbitrary arrest, torture and ill-treatment in Israeli detention facilities. It also documents alleged incidents of sexual and gender-based violence against children during arrest and imprisonment.</p> <p>In addition, the commission says repeated attacks on neonatal and paediatric hospitals have devastated access to life-saving healthcare for children in Gaza, while restrictions on humanitarian aid have contributed to severe malnutrition and famine-like conditions affecting thousands of children.</p> <p>The report argues that widespread destruction of schools, repeated displacement and prolonged closures have systematically disrupted children’s education, damaging the long-term intellectual and social development of Palestinian society.</p> <p>The commission was established by the UN Human Rights Council in 2021 to investigate alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law. While it operates under a UN mandate, it is an independent body and does not formally speak on behalf of the United Nations as a whole.</p> <p>This is not the first time the commission has accused Israel of genocide. In a report published last year, it concluded there were reasonable grounds to believe Israeli authorities had committed four of the five acts prohibited under the 1948 Genocide Convention.</p> <p>The commission has also previously found that Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups committed war crimes and other serious violations of international law during the 7 October 2023 attacks on southern Israel.</p> <p>The latest report comes as the humanitarian toll of the conflict continues to rise. According to Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, more than 73,000 Palestinians have been killed since the war began, including over 21,000 children. The ministry’s casualty figures are widely cited by the United Nations, although Israel disputes aspects of the data.</p> <p>Israel has strongly rejected the commission’s findings.</p> <p>In a statement, the Israeli Foreign Ministry described the report as a “libellous sham” and “propaganda”, accusing the commission of being fundamentally biased against Israel.</p> <p>The ministry argued that the report ignored Israeli children who were killed or kidnapped during the Hamas attacks and failed to acknowledge Hamas’ alleged use of Palestinian civilians, including children, as human shields.</p> <p>Israeli officials also said the commission lacked a credible verification process for its conclusions.</p> <p>Israel has consistently denied allegations of genocide, maintaining that its military campaign is an act of self-defence aimed at dismantling Hamas, securing the release of hostages and protecting Israeli citizens. Israeli leaders say their armed forces operate in accordance with international law and take measures to minimise civilian casualties.</p> <p>Separately, the International Court of Justice is continuing to hear South Africa’s genocide case against Israel. The proceedings are expected to take several years before a final judgment is reached. Israel has dismissed the case as politically motivated and based on false allegations.</p>

Share this fact check

← Check another article or image