24/06/2026
Israel inaendelea kutekeleza mauaji ya kimbari na uhalifu mwingine mkubwa kwa kuwalenga kwa makusudi watoto wa Kipalestina
GENEVA – Mamlaka na vikosi vya usalama vya Israel vimekuwa vikiwalenga kwa makusudi watoto wa Kipalestina, jambo lililosababisha kutendeka kwa mauaji ya kimbari (genocide), uhalifu dhidi ya ubinadamu na uhalifu wa kivita katika Ukanda wa Gaza, pamoja na uhalifu wa kivita katika Ukingo wa Magharibi (West Bank). Hayo yameelezwa katika ripoti mpya iliyotolewa leo na Tume Huru ya Kimataifa ya Uchunguzi ya Umoja wa Mataifa kuhusu Ardhi ya Palestina Inayokaliwa kwa Mabavu, ikiwemo Jerusalem Mashariki, na Israel.
Tume hiyo, ambayo mwaka jana ilihitimisha kuwa Israel ilifanya mauaji ya kimbari dhidi ya kundi la Wapalestina katika Ukanda wa Gaza, imebaini kuwa ukubwa na mfumo wa operesheni za kijeshi za Israel umeendelea kwa kiwango kikubwa, na kusababisha idadi isiyokuwa na mfano ya watoto wa Kipalestina kuuawa, kujeruhiwa na kupata majeraha makubwa ya kisaikolojia.
Tume hiyo imesisitiza tena kuwa kuwalenga watoto kwa makusudi ni mojawapo ya vipengele muhimu vinavyothibitisha dhamira ya mauaji ya kimbari ya mamlaka na vikosi vya usalama vya Israel, kwa lengo la kuangamiza, kwa ujumla au kwa sehemu, kundi la Wapalestina huko Gaza.
"Ushahidi unaonyesha kuwa watoto wa Kipalestina wamelengwa na kuuawa kwa makusudi na vikosi vya usalama vya Israel," alisema Mwenyekiti wa Tume hiyo, Srinivasan Muralidhar. "Hata baada ya usitishaji mapigano wa Oktoba 2025, watoto wanaendelea kuuawa na kujeruhiwa vibaya, huku Israel ikiendelea kupuuza makubaliano ya usitishaji mapigano na wajibu wake wa kuwalinda watoto wa Kipalestina chini ya sheria za kimataifa."
Majeraha makubwa ya mwili na akili, mshtuko mkubwa wa kisaikolojia, kuwa yatima, kutenganishwa na familia, ulemavu, kuhama makazi mara kwa mara, njaa, pamoja na kusambaratika kwa mifumo ya elimu na afya, vimeharibu kabisa utoto wa watoto wa Gaza na vitaendelea kuwaathiri katika maisha yao yote.
Watoto wa Kipalestina wamek**atwa na kufungwa, ambapo wamepitia mateso na aina nyingine za ukatili mkubwa katika magereza na vituo vya mahabusu vya Israel, huku familia zao zikikosa taarifa kuhusu walipo. Aidha, vikosi vya usalama vya Israel vimetumia ukatili wa kingono dhidi ya watoto k**a sehemu ya kuwaaibisha na kuwanyanyasa kwa pamoja, katika mfumo wa muda mrefu wa ukaliaji wa mabavu na uhasama wenye misingi ya ukabila, jinsia na vizazi.
Mashambulizi ya Israel dhidi ya vituo vya huduma za watoto wachanga na wajawazito huko Gaza yameathiri moja kwa moja maisha ya watoto wanaozaliwa na mustakabali wa uzazi wa Wapalestina. Hali hiyo imesababisha kuongezeka kwa mimba kuharibika, kasoro za kuzaliwa na matatizo ya muda mrefu kwa watoto wachanga, jambo linaloharibu maisha ya watoto wa Kipalestina na kuathiri mwendelezo wa kizazi cha Wapalestina.
Njaa iliyosababishwa na Israel kupitia mzingiro na kuzuia misaada pia imechangia vifo vya watoto wa Kipalestina na kuathiri vibaya afya ya wengine wengi. Watoto hao wamekosa lishe muhimu, huku wakikabiliwa na ongezeko la magonjwa kutokana na kupungua kwa chanjo, uhaba wa chakula na uharibifu wa huduma za afya.
Wakati huohuo, kubomolewa na kuharibiwa kwa vituo vya kulelea yatima na taasisi za elimu katika Gaza na Ukingo wa Magharibi, ikiwemo Jerusalem Mashariki, kumekwamisha maendeleo ya watoto katika nyanja za kiakili, kijamii na kihisia, pamoja na kudhoofisha misingi ya jamii ya Kipalestina.
"Hata k**a mabomu na risasi vitakoma Gaza na Ukingo wa Magharibi, watoto wa Kipalestina hawatarejea katika hali ya kawaida kwa muda mfupi," alisema Muralidhar. "Uharibifu uliotokea katika afya yao, elimu yao na maendeleo yao hauwezi kurekebishwa."
Watoto wa Kipalestina wamepata madhara makubwa ya kisaikolojia baada ya kupokonywa hisia ya usalama na matumaini ya maisha ya baadaye. Madhara hayo ya kiakili yanaendelea kutoka kizazi hadi kizazi, yakizalisha hali ya kipekee ya "akili iliyotawaliwa na ukaliaji wa mabavu", ambapo uhuru wa kucheza, kuota ndoto, kuwa na matumaini na kujenga utambulisho wao umeendelea kudhoofishwa.
Kwa kuwalenga watoto, Israel inaendelea kudhoofisha msingi wa jamii ya Kipalestina, kupunguza nguvu ya idadi ya watu wake na uwezo wa Wapalestina kuendelea kuwepo k**a taifa na kutumia haki yao ya kujiamulia mustakabali wao.
"Ulinzi, malezi na uhai wa watoto wa Kipalestina haviwezi kutenganishwa na haki ya watu wa Palestina ya kujitawala," alisema Muralidhar. "Kwa kuwalenga watoto, Israel inashambulia uwezo wenyewe wa watu wa Palestina kuendelea kuwepo na kuamua mustakabali wao."
Tume hiyo imeitaka Israel kusitisha mara moja ukiukwaji wa haki na uhalifu unaowalenga watoto wa Kipalestina. Pia imeitaka Israel kukomesha uwepo wake unaoendelea katika Ukingo wa Magharibi unaokaliwa kwa mabavu, ikiwemo Jerusalem Mashariki, kwa kuzingatia maoni ya ushauri ya Mahak**a ya Kimataifa ya Haki (ICJ).
Aidha, Tume hiyo imevitambua vikosi vya kijeshi ndani ya vyombo vya usalama vya Israel vinavyohusika na mauaji na majeraha ya watoto wa Kipalestina, na kutoa mapendekezo kwa Israel pamoja na nchi zote wanachama wa Umoja wa Mataifa kuhakikisha kuwa wahusika wanawajibishwa kwa uhalifu huo.
Hatimaye, Tume imesisitiza kuwa jumuiya ya kimataifa ina wajibu wa kutekeleza majukumu yake chini ya sheria za kimataifa kwa kutaka mapigano yakome, Israel ikomeshe ukaliaji wake wa mabavu, na kuhakikisha uwajibikaji pamoja na upatikanaji wa haki kwa waathirika unakuwa sehemu muhimu ya mchakato wowote wa kisiasa, unaojengwa juu ya ushiriki wa maana wa Wapalestina, wakiwemo watoto.
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Israel continues to commit genocide and other atrocity crimes by deliberately targeting Palestinian children
GENEVA – Israeli authorities and security forces have deliberately targeted Palestinian children resulting in genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the Gaza Strip and war crimes in the West Bank, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel said in a new report today.
The Commission, which concluded last year that Israel had committed genocide against the Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip, found that the intense scale and systematic nature of the Israeli military operations have continued – resulting in unprecedented death, injury and trauma of Palestinian children.
The Commission reiterates that the deliberate targeting of children is one of the key elements establishing genocidal intent of the Israeli authorities and security forces to destroy the Palestinian group, in whole or in part, in Gaza.
“The evidence shows that Palestinian children have been deliberately targeted and killed by the Israeli security forces,” said Srinivasan Muralidhar, Chair of the Commission. “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.”
Severe physical and mental injuries, mass trauma, orphanhood, separation, disability, repeated displacements, starvation, and the collapse of education and healthcare have erased childhood and will continue to affect children in Gaza throughout their lives.
Palestinian children have been arrested and subjected to torture and other severe forms of mistreatment in Israeli prisons and detention facilities, with no information on their whereabouts. Israeli security forces have also used sexual violence against children as part of the collective shaming and oppression, entrenched within a prolonged, ethnic, gendered, and intergenerational pattern of Israeli occupation and hostilities.
Israel’s targeting of neonatal and maternity care centers in Gaza have directly harmed the survival of newborns and Palestinians’ reproductive future, including rises in miscarriages, birth defects and lasting vulnerabilities among newborns, resulting in the destruction of Palestinian newborn life and the population’s continuity. Starvation imposed by Israel through blockade and siege have further caused the death of Palestinian children and severely impacted the health of many others, depriving them of essential nutrition and increasing disease risks amid reduced immunization, food insecurity and destroyed health services.
In parallel, the dismantling and destruction of orphanages and education facilities in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have obstructed children’s cognitive, social and emotional care and development and disrupted the foundations of Palestinian society.
“Even if the bombs and guns fall silent in Gaza and West Bank, Palestinian children will not simply recover overnight,” said Muralidhar. “The destruction of their health, education and development is irreversible.”
Palestinian children have suffered immense psychological harm, having been stripped of any sense of safety and future. Mental harm is an intergenerational condition, producing a distinctive “occupied psyche” in which the freedom to play, imagine, hope, and develop an identity has been eroded.
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 protection, care and survival of Palestinian children are inseparable from the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination,” said Muralidhar. “By targeting children, Israel is attacking the very capacity of the Palestinian people to exist and to determine their future.”
The Commission calls for Israel to cease committing violations and crimes against and affecting Palestinian children. The Commission further calls for the end of Israel’s continuing presence in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in compliance with the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice.
The Commission has identified military units within the Israeli security forces responsible for killing and injuring of Palestinian children and makes recommendations to Israel and to all Member States to ensure accountability for such crimes.
The international community as a whole must uphold their international legal obligations and call for an end to the hostilities, for Israel to end its occupation and to prioritize accountability and access to justice for victims as an integral component of any political process, grounded in the meaningful participation of Palestinians, including children.
