Palestinian Ambassador to India Abdullah Abu Shawesh has strongly criticised Israel and its allies following a United Nations Commission of Inquiry report that determined Israeli forces are committing acts amounting to genocide in Gaza, including the deliberate targeting of children.
UN Report Finds Genocide Criteria Met
Speaking to ANI, Ambassador Abu Shawesh stated: "To classify a war as a genocide, there are five conditions. Out of the five conditions, three are applied to the Israeli action in Gaza. So, it's a genocide according to the UN, Amnesty, Israeli human rights organisations. The only ones who are refusing and standing against the word 'genocide' are the Israeli officials, leaders and the Americans themselves."
The independent UN Commission of Inquiry, which last year determined Israel had committed genocide, noted that ongoing military operations have inflicted "unprecedented death, injury and trauma" on Palestinian children. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in airstrikes over the past eight months, including more than 250 children, who account for approximately 30 per cent of fatalities.
Historical Context and Humanitarian Toll
The envoy emphasised that the systematic violence reflects a long-standing historical pattern. "I know this is a very shocking report not only to the international community but also to us who saw Israeli occupation a long time ago, Gaza ethnic cleansing in 1948. It is not surprising to us; we know how Israel is treating us and our people," he said. He added that more than 5,000 Palestinian children remain missing or internally displaced, with the vast majority believed killed.
The UN panel highlighted that even after the October 2025 ceasefire, children continue to be killed and seriously injured, with continued disregard by Israel for the ceasefire and international law. Commission chairman Srinivasan Muralidhar told CNN: "Even after the October 2025 ceasefire, children continue to be killed and seriously injured, with continued disregard by Israel for the ceasefire and for the protection owed to Palestinian children under international law."
Israeli Denials and International Response
Israel has rejected the allegations. The foreign ministry dismissed the report as "a propaganda piece as outrageous as its previous ones," while Israel's UN ambassador Danny Danon called it a "political blood libel disguised as a UN document." The US-backed ceasefire brokered in October ended two years of war, but the panel observed that hostilities merely reduced rather than ceased.
Israel has accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire and refusing to disarm. The report noted that most of Gaza's population remains displaced in tents, with Israel restricting reconstruction materials and heavy equipment. Under former US President Donald Trump's peace plan, an international security force was to deploy during a gradual Israeli withdrawal, but Israel has expanded territorial control, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stating Israeli forces now control 70 per cent of the enclave.
Impact on Children and Healthcare
The report documented a systematic pattern of Israeli strikes on hospitals, health clinics, and reproductive healthcare facilities, warning of severe short- and long-term consequences for children's physical and psychological well-being. Conditions imposed since the truce, including persistent attacks and restrictions on humanitarian aid, have caused "multi-layered harm to Palestinian children's survival, health and development."
The findings follow a previous UN panel report that established Israel had committed genocide and that Israeli officials, including Netanyahu, had incited such acts. Netanyahu is also subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant over alleged war crimes.
