The Essence of Childhood Has Been Destroyed

What follows is a transcript of remarks delivered at a recent press conference by Justice Srinivasan Muralidhar, Chair of the United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and Israel, and by Australian human rights lawyer Chris Sidoti, a member of the commission. I have included a link to the report and the press conference so that readers can hear the commissioners in their own words. The report contains descriptions of harm done to children and will be difficult for some people to read.A United Nations Commission of Inquiry has found that Israeli authorities and security forces deliberately targeted Palestinian children, concluding that their actions amount to genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.In a report released globally today, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, found that Palestinian children had been subjected to targeted killing, starvation, torture, sexual violence, arbitrary detention, and repeated displacement. The commission found that much of the harm suffered by Palestinian children was not incidental, but intended to destroy the existence of the Palestinians in Gaza as a group.The report is titled: The Essence of Childhood Has Been Destroyed: Israel’s Deliberate Targeting of Palestinian Children in the Occupied Palestinian Territory Since 7 October 2023.It reports that more than 20,000 children have been killed directly, with many more dead from starvation, disease, and the collapse of Gaza’s health system.Justice Srinivasan MuralidharBased on all the evidence gathered, the report makes legal findings and concludes that the Israeli authorities and the Israeli security forces have deliberately targeted and killed Palestinian children and destroyed their childhood. Israeli authorities and the Israeli security forces are responsible for crimes against humanity, including persecution, and war crimes in the Gaza Strip and war crimes in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.The report released today further substantiates the finding on genocide. The protection, care, and survival of Palestinian children and pregnant women are inextricably linked to the Palestinian people’s fundamental rights to self determination, as children represent the future bearers of their collective identity and resilience. By targeting children, Israel is eroding the foundational structure of Palestinian society, weakening the demographic vitality and overall capacity of the Palestinian people to sustain and exercise its right to determine its future as a people.The report concludes that settler violence in the West Bank functions as a means of implementing Israeli state policies, with both the state and violent settler groups working in collaboration towards the same strategic objective: unlawful territorial expansion.The report by the Board of Peace to the Security Council in May this year, pursuant to Security Council Resolution 2803, claims that the conditions for Palestinians in Gaza have improved. This contradicts the findings of this commission.The Israeli Prime Minister has been clear. Israel aims to seize at least 70% of the Gaza Strip, in clear violation of the ceasefire agreement and international law.The reality is that Palestinians continue to be killed and harmed in Gaza, even after the ceasefire was announced in October last year, and the amount of humanitarian aid allowed into Gaza remains very much below the necessary levels needed.Lastly, the commission condemns the severe mistreatment of the flotilla activists detained by the Israeli forces. Such public disregard of international law would support the findings of the commission in previous reports that Palestinian detainees were severely mistreated, including tortured, raped, and sexually abused by Israeli forces.The commission welcomes the opening of judicial investigations in a number of countries about these events.In this report, we made a series of recommendations to the State of Israel and to the member states, as well as the Security Council, which we hope the member states will act upon and the other bodies to whom we have addressed them will act upon.We intend to continue pursuing the fulfillment of our mandate, including in relation to making recommendations, in particular on accountability measures with a view to preventing and ending impunity and ensuring accountability, including state responsibility and individual criminal and command responsibility.Chris SidotiThis report is a thematic report dealing with the situation of children. When presenting reports, I try to be legal, technical, and dispassionate. But today I want to speak very personally.For me, this report has been the most difficult of the 17 reports that the commission has produced. Some events stay with me long after a report is investigated, written, and released. The events that stay with me are the events concerning children.The report we released today is looking at the Israeli military killing, maiming, and damaging the lives of Palestinian children. The chair has referred to the fact that there were over 20,000 Palestinian children in Gaza killed between October 2023 and October 2025. Twenty thousand or more, maybe 22,000, directly killed by the violence.The child whose death struck me most personally was not killed directly by the violence and was not included amongst those 20,000 to 22,000 recorded deaths. Those deaths were all children whose bodies were identified and who were injured by warfare or bombings.The girl I am talking about, age 12, had celiac disease. Celiac disease is a manageable disease. Children do not die with celiac disease.When her situation came to public attention, it was dismissed by the Israeli authorities on the basis that this girl had a pre existing condition. The evidence was there. We saw the photos and the videos of this child.She suffered seriously from malnutrition and diarrhea. She lost a third of her body weight over a six month period. From March to May 2025, Israeli authorities imposed a total siege on Gaza. No food was getting in during that period, and certainly not the food required by a child with celiac disease. That is when her weight loss began.In October 2025, suffering from severe acute malnutrition, she was admitted to the Nasser Medical Center. The doctors applied for her to be medically evacuated from Gaza so that she could receive the level of treatment needed to save her life. The Israeli authorities did not reply.In October 2025, the child died. She did not die of celiac disease. Children do not die of celiac disease. She died of starvation, the direct result of the policies implemented by the Israeli government and the Israeli military.Oh, and I should add that two weeks after she died, the Israeli authorities approved her medical evacuation.The child whose death struck me most on the West Bank was in a different situation. He was directly killed. He was in the refugee camp of Al Farah, in the town of Tubas. A 14 year old boy.He was shot by an Israeli military patrol as he was leaving his house. The patrol had been in the area, but at the time there had been no fighting taking place.He was shot, badly injured, and was lying on the ground. He was surrounded by a company of Israeli soldiers who were chatting, and probably some of them smoking, over a period of 45 minutes while this 14 year old boy bled to death.During the period, he was able to move a little. He pushed his cap out to indicate that he was still alive and needed attention. A soldier kicked the cap back at him.On another occasion, he was crying out and, again, the response was kicking towards him.Later in the period, a soldier came up and dropped a stone next to him, trying to frame this innocent child as a stone thrower when there is no evidence whatsoever that the child was doing anything more than going out to play.His mother was watching from the house that he had just left. As the mother sought to leave the house to go to the child, to rescue him or attend to him, she was shot at by the Israeli military patrol.There was a Palestinian Red Cross ambulance nearby. Whenever the ambulance tried to approach the scene of the child lying there, a laser targeted weapon was aimed at the driver of the ambulance so that the laser was hitting the driver in the middle of the head. The driver, of course, withdrew in fear of being shot.For 45 minutes, this child bled to death while surrounded by Israeli soldiers who not only showed no concern for him whatsoever, not only did nothing themselves to assist the child, but actively prevented the child’s mother from reaching him and the ambulance from assisting him.After this child died, the soldiers took his body away, and the body has still not been returned to the family for burial. An Israeli military force holding a child’s body as hostage.I have three questions today for Israeli people. Through this press conference, I want to speak to them directly.What kind of people are your soldiers who would allow a 14 year old child to bleed to death over a 45 minute period?What kind of people are your military leaders that would inculcate a culture where soldiers feel free to do this, acting with total impunity?What kind of people are your leaders when they give orders? They make statements that encourage this kind of conduct, not merely permit it, but encourage it.I saw a couple of weeks ago that Israeli President Herzog made a statement about some extremist Israeli settlers. He described, and I quote the report of what he said directly: “a wave of terrible violence that is being carried out by an anarchist mob, acts that defile and violate every basic moral, legal, and Jewish norm.”Herzog was speaking about a handful of extremist settlers, and he was right in the way in which he described them. But he should have gone on to describe the key institutions of Israeli society, the government, the Knesset, the political parties, and the military in exactly the same terms. An anarchist mob committing acts that defile and violate every basic moral, legal, and Jewish norm.I am a lawyer, so I can only speak legally. There is no doubt whatsoever. There can be no doubt in anyone who reads today’s report that every international legal norm has been violated by the actions of the Israeli authorities towards Palestinian children. And they need to be held accountable.Recommendations to CanadaIn the report, the commission makes recommendations to all the Member States and those involved in ceasefire negotiations:(a) Arrest any Israeli officials against whom arrest warrants have been issued by the ICC and extradite them into the custody of the ICC;(b) Employ all means reasonably available to them to prevent the commission of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity and to ensure full compliance with the Geneva Conventions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory;(c) Cease the transfer of arms and other equipment or items, including jet fuel, to the State of Israel or third States where there is reason to suspect their use in military trade or operations that have involved or could involve the commission of genocide, war crimes or crimes against humanity or other violations of the Geneva Conventions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory;(d) Conduct investigations under domestic or universal jurisdiction of Israeli individuals or organisations suspected of having participated in unlawful acts of violence against Palestinian children, including Israeli suspects holding dual or multiple nationalities;(e) Impose targeted sanctions, including prohibiting financial dealings and revoking or denying visas of individual Israeli ministers and officials and Israeli military personnel who may be responsible for inciting or committing violence relating to the abuse, killing or maiming of children;(f) Impose targeted sanctions on extremist settlers, including a ban on financial transactions and travel, as well as on private entities, including charities, that support the settlement enterprise;(g) Exhort Israel to end the siege of Gaza immediately, completely and permanently and allow unhindered humanitarian access to deliver aid and other support tailored to children’s needs in Gaza;(h) Support political solutions and processes aimed at achieving lasting peace in Palestine, based on the right of Palestinians to self-determination and rooted in the principle of inclusivity and ownership, engaging and listening to Palestinians, including children;(i) Support and facilitate access to justice for victims of crimes against children as a key component of any political solutions and process. Call to ActionThese are the findings of a United Nations commission of inquiry. Canadians should be asking Prime Minister Mark Carney and Minister of Foreign Affairs Anita Anand what the government intends to do, and asking the same of every Canadian business that maintains commercial ties to the Israeli government or military. Read the report, watch the press conference, and decide what you expect of them. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit quietcanines.substack.com/subscribe