Israel specifically targeted Gaza children: UN probe chief Justice Muralidhar
Justice S Muralidhar, head of the UN inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, alleged that Israel deliberately targeted Palestinian children in Gaza through bombings, drones and sniper fire.
Israel has deliberately targeted and killed Palestinian children in Gaza since the war began on October 7, 2023, leaving tens of thousands dead and many more orphaned or permanently disabled, Justice S Muralidhar, who heads the UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said. Based on extensive evidence, including medical testimony, eyewitness accounts and material allegedly recorded by Israeli soldiers themselves, Israel's actions in Gaza amounted to genocide and crimes against humanity, he added.
Speaking to India Today TV days after the commission released its latest report, Justice Muralidhar said more than 20,000 Palestinian children have been killed since the conflict escalated in October 2023. The report also alleges that children continue to be killed and maimed despite a ceasefire announced in October 2025, while schools, orphanages and other institutions serving children have been systematically destroyed across Gaza.
Explaining what he described as Israel's methods of warfare, the former Chief Justice of the Odisha High Court pointed to two specific patterns: the bombardment of densely populated civilian areas and the alleged targeting of children using advanced weapons systems.
"There were two methods deployed by the Israeli Defence Forces," he said. "One was to have a wave of airstrikes using high-yield bombs on densely populated areas in Gaza."
According to Muralidhar, the bombings continued for nearly two years despite mounting evidence that children were among the primary victims.
"Any rights-respecting nation, when it started its campaign, would have realised that children are disproportionately represented among the fatalities in such attacks. It would then have changed its course. Israel did not," he said.
"Israel continued with those bombings. As was expected, children constituted more than 30 per cent of all fatalities."
Muralidhar said the commission found that more than 70,000 people had been killed during the conflict, with children accounting for nearly one-third of the deaths. He also highlighted testimony from doctors who treated severely injured children in Gaza.
"Doctors had to amputate tiny babies and infants without anaesthesia, without painkillers," he said. "Fifty-eight thousand orphaned children have been created in these two years. Orphanages have been bombed."
The second method, he alleged, involved the use of quadcopters, sniper rifles and drones.
According to Muralidhar, quadcopters equipped with thermal-imaging technology were capable of distinguishing between adults and children.
"You have an instance of a 10-day-old breastfeeding baby being shot through the head with a single bullet using a quadcopter. The mother is unhurt. The baby has been shot," he said.
"There are numerous instances where a child is accompanying an adult on a road. The child is shot and killed, while the adult is spared."
Muralidhar also referred to testimony from doctors who described treating children wounded by cube-shaped pellets allegedly fired from drones.
"Doctors who deposed before us told us that hundreds and hundreds of babies were brought in with injuries and fatalities. They've never seen this kind of extensive attack specifically targeting children," he said.
The report, released last week, identifies specific Israeli military units operating in areas where children, including infants, were allegedly killed and details the types of munitions used. It also examines cases in which the commission concluded that children were killed by quadcopter drones and sniper fire, often with a single gunshot.
Responding to criticism that Israel did not participate in the inquiry and has dismissed the report as one-sided, Muralidhar said the commission had repeatedly sought to engage with Israeli authorities.
"Every time before we pick up a theme to prepare a report, we issue what is called a public call for submissions," he said, explaining that individuals and organisations worldwide are invited to submit evidence.
He added that the commission had sent multiple diplomatic requests seeking permission to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories. Draft reports, he said, are also shared with both Israeli and Palestinian representatives before publication.
"While the Palestinian Authority responds to us, Israel never does," he said.
Muralidhar argued that Israel's rejection of the inquiry reflects a broader distrust of UN institutions examining the conflict.
"Israel has a deep distrust of the entire UN system," he said. "Any UN-mandated authority looking into Palestine, Israel will simply label as biased, one-sided and unfair."
When asked whether Israel or its allies would ever accept allegations of genocide and war crimes, Muralidhar said one of the report's distinguishing features was its reliance on evidence allegedly generated by Israeli soldiers themselves.
"The soldiers of Israel have spoken, not just to this commission, but to the entire world through the videos that they have filmed of their own acts," he said.
"So much incriminating evidence that Israeli soldiers have posted of their own acts is in the public domain."
He further claimed that Israel's response to the report did not directly challenge several pieces of evidence cited by the commission.
"If you see the 18-page rebuttal that Israel has prepared in response to our report, Israel does not deny any of these pieces of incriminating material," Muralidhar said.
Israel has consistently denied deliberately targeting civilians and has rejected accusations, including those made by rights groups, that it committed genocide in Gaza. Israel's Foreign Ministry described the report as a "libelous sham", saying its claims were unverified. It also criticised the commission as "a fundamentally flawed mechanism whose very purpose is to single out and vilify Israel rather than seek the truth."
Israel has deliberately targeted and killed Palestinian children in Gaza since the war began on October 7, 2023, leaving tens of thousands dead and many more orphaned or permanently disabled, Justice S Muralidhar, who heads the UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said. Based on extensive evidence, including medical testimony, eyewitness accounts and material allegedly recorded by Israeli soldiers themselves, Israel's actions in Gaza amounted to genocide and crimes against humanity, he added.
Speaking to India Today TV days after the commission released its latest report, Justice Muralidhar said more than 20,000 Palestinian children have been killed since the conflict escalated in October 2023. The report also alleges that children continue to be killed and maimed despite a ceasefire announced in October 2025, while schools, orphanages and other institutions serving children have been systematically destroyed across Gaza.
Explaining what he described as Israel's methods of warfare, the former Chief Justice of the Odisha High Court pointed to two specific patterns: the bombardment of densely populated civilian areas and the alleged targeting of children using advanced weapons systems.
"There were two methods deployed by the Israeli Defence Forces," he said. "One was to have a wave of airstrikes using high-yield bombs on densely populated areas in Gaza."
According to Muralidhar, the bombings continued for nearly two years despite mounting evidence that children were among the primary victims.
"Any rights-respecting nation, when it started its campaign, would have realised that children are disproportionately represented among the fatalities in such attacks. It would then have changed its course. Israel did not," he said.
"Israel continued with those bombings. As was expected, children constituted more than 30 per cent of all fatalities."
Muralidhar said the commission found that more than 70,000 people had been killed during the conflict, with children accounting for nearly one-third of the deaths. He also highlighted testimony from doctors who treated severely injured children in Gaza.
"Doctors had to amputate tiny babies and infants without anaesthesia, without painkillers," he said. "Fifty-eight thousand orphaned children have been created in these two years. Orphanages have been bombed."
The second method, he alleged, involved the use of quadcopters, sniper rifles and drones.
According to Muralidhar, quadcopters equipped with thermal-imaging technology were capable of distinguishing between adults and children.
"You have an instance of a 10-day-old breastfeeding baby being shot through the head with a single bullet using a quadcopter. The mother is unhurt. The baby has been shot," he said.
"There are numerous instances where a child is accompanying an adult on a road. The child is shot and killed, while the adult is spared."
Muralidhar also referred to testimony from doctors who described treating children wounded by cube-shaped pellets allegedly fired from drones.
"Doctors who deposed before us told us that hundreds and hundreds of babies were brought in with injuries and fatalities. They've never seen this kind of extensive attack specifically targeting children," he said.
The report, released last week, identifies specific Israeli military units operating in areas where children, including infants, were allegedly killed and details the types of munitions used. It also examines cases in which the commission concluded that children were killed by quadcopter drones and sniper fire, often with a single gunshot.
Responding to criticism that Israel did not participate in the inquiry and has dismissed the report as one-sided, Muralidhar said the commission had repeatedly sought to engage with Israeli authorities.
"Every time before we pick up a theme to prepare a report, we issue what is called a public call for submissions," he said, explaining that individuals and organisations worldwide are invited to submit evidence.
He added that the commission had sent multiple diplomatic requests seeking permission to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories. Draft reports, he said, are also shared with both Israeli and Palestinian representatives before publication.
"While the Palestinian Authority responds to us, Israel never does," he said.
Muralidhar argued that Israel's rejection of the inquiry reflects a broader distrust of UN institutions examining the conflict.
"Israel has a deep distrust of the entire UN system," he said. "Any UN-mandated authority looking into Palestine, Israel will simply label as biased, one-sided and unfair."
When asked whether Israel or its allies would ever accept allegations of genocide and war crimes, Muralidhar said one of the report's distinguishing features was its reliance on evidence allegedly generated by Israeli soldiers themselves.
"The soldiers of Israel have spoken, not just to this commission, but to the entire world through the videos that they have filmed of their own acts," he said.
"So much incriminating evidence that Israeli soldiers have posted of their own acts is in the public domain."
He further claimed that Israel's response to the report did not directly challenge several pieces of evidence cited by the commission.
"If you see the 18-page rebuttal that Israel has prepared in response to our report, Israel does not deny any of these pieces of incriminating material," Muralidhar said.
Israel has consistently denied deliberately targeting civilians and has rejected accusations, including those made by rights groups, that it committed genocide in Gaza. Israel's Foreign Ministry described the report as a "libelous sham", saying its claims were unverified. It also criticised the commission as "a fundamentally flawed mechanism whose very purpose is to single out and vilify Israel rather than seek the truth."
