More than 73,000 died in Gaza after a thousand days of war, says Ministry
More than 73,000 people have died after a thousand days of war, according to the most recent data from the Gaza Ministry of Health, as Israeli attacks on the enclave continue.
As of June 30, at least 73,066 people had been killed and 173,514 injured, the ministry said.
Of this total, 21,730 were children, more than a thousand of which were babies under one year of age.
An agreement that came into force in October called for an "immediate" end to the war in Gaza, but Israel has carried out attacks on the enclave almost daily as Israeli military forces consolidate their presence in the devastated territory.
Hamas has refused to lay down its arms, and an international police force aimed at taking control of Gaza's security has not yet materialized.
UN points to genocide
Israeli authorities and security forces deliberately attacked Palestinian children, which resulted in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Gaza Strip, an independent UN commission of inquiry said on Tuesday (23).
According to the document, there were also war crimes in the occupied West Bank.
The report by the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry into the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel examined violations against Palestinian children since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on October 7, 2023.
Around 30% of deaths in the Gaza war were children, according to the text.
An earlier commission report, which was released in September, concluded that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza and that senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, incited these acts - accusations that the Israeli government found scandalous.
Israel's mission in Geneva said the country rejects what it called the commission's "second defamatory and biased report."
The statement noted that Israel rejects "this slanderous hoax", adding that "every child deserves protection" and claiming that the report ignored "Hamas' brutal tactics".
Report points to genocide in Gaza
The UN commission stated that Palestinian children were deliberately targeted and killed during the war, including after a ceasefire came into force in October 2025.
According to the commission, this was a key element in proving the genocidal intention of the Israeli authorities and security forces to destroy the Palestinian group, in whole or in part, in Gaza.
"Evidence shows that Palestinian children were deliberately targeted and killed by Israeli security forces," said Srinivasan Muralidhar, chairman of the commission, in a statement accompanying the report.
The report found that the proportion of children killed was higher than in previous conflicts. Between October 7, 2023 and October 7, 2025, at least 20,179 children were killed, around 30% of the total number of fatalities.
By comparison, in hostilities in Gaza between 2008 and 2009 and in 2014, children accounted for approximately 24% of conflict-related deaths, according to the document.
Israeli forces continued to use high-explosive munitions and weapons with wide-area effects in densely populated residential areas, despite the growing number of child victims, according to the commission.
"This indicates that such attacks, which killed children in such high numbers, were intentional," it said.
The commission stated that it believed that the children were targeted in collective attacks because Israeli security forces considered the civilian population as a whole to be associated with Hamas and other armed groups.
Muralidhar asserted that by targeting children, Israel was undermining the Palestinian people's ability to exist and determine their future.
Thus, also according to the report, the conditions imposed by Israel in Gaza, including widespread attacks, repeated displacements and famine caused by the blockade of humanitarian aid, food and medicine, have seriously harmed the health and development of children, resulting in preventable deaths and trauma.
The investigation also found that attacks on health and reproductive health facilities affected newborn survival and showed increases in the number of miscarriages, as well as indicating that almost all children in Gaza would need psychological support.
Israel counters and says it strives to minimize harm
Israel's mission in Geneva countered the report and stated that the country "constantly strives to minimize harm to children, even in conflict situations."
In addition, he noted that Israel rejected "in the strongest terms" the suggestion that it would deliberately target children.
Israel's rebuttal also stated that the report did not mention Israel's role in facilitating vaccination and the entry of medical teams, as well as the establishment of field hospitals.
Finally, he accused Hamas of systematically diverting humanitarian aid and fuel destined for hospitals. Hamas has rejected such accusations.
UN Commission points to genocide in Gaza with Israeli attacks on children
Source: CNN