Annette Groth, July 8, 2026
“Everyone who has served in the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip since October 2023 must be considered a suspect for the commission of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.”
Chris Sidoti, one of the world’s most recognized experts in international human rights law and member of the UN Commission of Inquiry on Palestine, UN TV, June 16, 2026
“When the United Nations determines that an army kills and injures children on an industrial scale, tortures them, sexually abuses them, and denies them access to water and medicine, the rest of the world has a clear obligation: it must stop this army’s access to weapons and ensure that it is held accountable.”
Bill Van Esveld, Deputy Director, Children’s Rights Division, Human Rights Watch, June 26, 2026
“Father, will we still be alive tomorrow?”
asked the son of Dr. Eyad Amawi, a doctor from Gaza and member of “Doctors Against Genocide”
At the Second Jewish Antizionist Congress, held in late June 2026 in Dublin, Dr. Amawi described life in the Gaza Strip via video link: “They (the Israelis – PC) are destroying everything. They are destroying the infrastructure. They have turned our environment into an area full of diseases and infections.” Dr. Amawi stressed that there is hardly any clean drinking water because many desalination plants are not functioning due to the fuel shortage. As a result, diseases are spreading in the completely overcrowded refugee camps, while medical care is collapsing. For him, these conditions are neither accidental nor simply the inevitable consequences of war, but “conscious efforts to destroy Palestinian society itself.” “What we are experiencing is the systematic destruction of social life and the deliberate infliction of famine.” (1)
On July 3, exactly one thousand days have passed since Israel began the genocide in Gaza – not a single day without dead or injured from bombs, drones, or other weapons, or from preventable diseases caused by hunger or contaminated water.
On the occasion of this “anniversary” of the ongoing genocide, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) has published a striking description of the last years in Gaza. PCHR recalls the blockade of Gaza imposed by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in 2007 – nearly 20 years during which only certain goods have been allowed into Gaza in a very limited manner and the movement of people has been nearly impossible. (2)
Critics have called Gaza the “world’s largest open-air prison”!
Between 2008 and 2021, the IOF launched four major military offensives on the coastal strip, killing thousands of Palestinians, the vast majority of them civilians. Even these wars destroyed health and educational facilities, cultural sites, residential buildings, industrial and agricultural plants, roads, power grids, and sanitation and water infrastructure. Due to the rigid blockade policy, reconstruction took a very long time, and many damages, such as those to solar panels, could never be repaired due to a lack of materials.
Investigations conducted by the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) into these military offensives show that the IOF intentionally targeted civilians and civilian property and committed war crimes on a large scale. These findings were confirmed by independent international investigative commissions, including the UN Human Rights Council fact-finding mission established after the 2008 Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip: “The destruction of food supply facilities, water networks and sanitation facilities, concrete factories and residential houses was the result of a deliberate policy of the Israeli forces.” (3)
According to official figures, over 73,000 people have been killed in the thousand days, including 21,500 children and 12,500 women, accounting for approximately 55 percent of all fatalities. The renowned Max Planck Institute calculated in November 2025 that the number of dead lies between 100,000 and 125,000.
For the Palestinian human rights activists, the intent to commit genocide was unmistakable even after the first large-scale military attacks following October 7, especially since Israeli politicians and military officials openly and repeatedly expressed this genocidal intent to the media. Another indication was the massive destruction, “the infliction of severe bodily harm, the deliberate destruction of food supplies, and the creation of living conditions aimed at making the continuation of the Palestinians as a national group impossible.” (4)
PCHR describes Gaza as a “living hell,” where around 23,000 people live densely packed per square kilometer, as the population of about 2.3 million Palestinians has been pushed back into a narrow border area of no more than 100 square kilometers – that is 30 percent of the Gaza Strip. The IOF has brought the other 70 percent under its control.
For PCHR, it is incomprehensible that the USA and many Western states continue to supply Israel with weapons and other equipment and provide political support. “These states are key parties to the crime of genocide, whether through direct support or complicity. ... The crime of genocide in Gaza is the result and culmination of decades of Western support for Israel and for the policies of immunity and impunity. However, these are also 1,000 days in which the international community of states has not only failed to take any measures to stop the genocide; many countries continue to support Israel economically and/or militarily. These are also 1,000 days in which the German-language media coverage – both in Germany and in Austria – has failed to a shocking extent.” (5)
As long as this scandalous support and the silence about the monstrous war crimes continue, the Israeli government will continue murder and displacement, also in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Lebanon – on this, all human rights activists agree.
A horrifying document is the report presented on June 23, 2026, by the United Nations entitled “Israel continues to commit genocide and other atrocity crimes.” (6)
This report by the “Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel” emphasizes that “the deliberate targeting of children is one of the key elements proving the genocidal intent of the Israeli authorities and forces to destroy the Palestinian population group in the Gaza Strip in whole or in part.” (7)
According to the Commission’s Chairperson, Srinivasan Muralidhar, evidence shows “that Palestinian children have been intentionally targeted and killed by Israeli forces. ... Even if the bombs and weapons in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank fall silent, Palestinian children will not simply recover overnight. The destruction of their health, education, and development is irreversible,” Muralidhar stressed.
He lamented that even after the ceasefire of October 2025, children continue to be killed and seriously injured, “while Israel continues to disregard the ceasefire and the protection to which Palestinian children are entitled under international law.” (8)
The Commission has identified military units within the Israeli forces responsible for the killing and wounding of Palestinian children. Statements from soldiers indicate they believe they are protected from prosecution. “They appear to have been influenced by the rhetoric of Israeli politicians and officials, who portray all Palestinians as legitimate targets – a mindset that has become entrenched within the ranks of the Israeli army.” (9)
Cases were “investigated and documented that demonstrate a consistent pattern of children being deliberately targeted by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip. This includes cases in which children were shot while trying to flee with their families, as well as at places of refuge such as displacement camps, food distribution points, or other locations throughout the Gaza Strip. The Commission has collected, analyzed, and secured videos, photographs, and medical reports, including CT scans, and has reviewed investigative reports from several independent bodies.” (10)
In this context, the UN report refers to the ITVX documentary “Breaking Ranks: Inside Israel’s War,” in which several Israeli soldiers who served in the Gaza Strip confirm that they fired on unarmed Palestinians, including children. One soldier said: “The first shot goes directly to the head.” Another soldier reported: “We saw two teenagers pushing some kind of cart, and the first shot went directly into the head.” (11)
According to the UN report, over 1,655 children have been detained in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since October 7, 2023, 600 of them in 2025. As of December 31, 2025, 51 percent of the 351 detained Palestinian children were in “administrative detention,” under which children, like adults, are held indefinitely without charge. The remaining 49 percent of detained children were in pre-trial detention, “held under the Unlawful Combatants Law, or serving a sentence after a conviction.” Children held in military detention facilities or interrogation centers operating outside the prison system are not included.
Since October 7, 2023, detention conditions have deteriorated significantly. The minister responsible for prisons, the far-right Minister of National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir, has instructed guards to impose considerably harsher conditions on prisoners. A children’s rights organization submitted to the Commission a testimony from a 17-year-old boy from Nablus, who described his experiences in the juvenile section of Meggido Prison in detail. There, the lights remained on all night, there were frequent unannounced checks during the night hours, preventing the detainees from sleeping. The children had to change cells frequently and were subjected to daily insults and beatings by the guards.
The number of detained children from the Gaza Strip is unknown, as the Israeli authorities do not release information about the arrested children. However, 44 Palestinian children who had been detained in the Gaza Strip after October 7, 2023, were released by Israel as part of the hostage exchange agreement of January 2025.
A chapter of the UN report deals with “sexual and gender-based violence against Palestinian children” and concludes that “Palestinian boys and men were subjected to specific acts of a sexual nature based on their gender and identity as Palestinians, committed with the purpose of punishing and humiliating them specifically for the acts committed on October 7, 2023.” The Commission also referred to a previous report, which documented several incidents of sexual and gender-based violence committed by Israeli forces against children – both boys and girls.
The destruction of the education system and its impact on children is also described. “Prior to the Israeli attacks on Gaza starting in October 2023, Gaza historically had one of the highest literacy rates in the world. Israeli attacks have severely hit the education sector. Children in Gaza have missed three years of formal education. In January 2026, over 335,000 children under five were threatened with severe developmental delays due to the collapse of early childhood care facilities. ... Even where children had access to online education, the harsh reality of constant attacks, famine, and inhumane living conditions has shifted their focus from learning to survival. ... One mother told the Commission that her 17-year-old son used to be top of his class, but now sells cigarettes instead of studying.” (12)
Mentioned are the impacts of the destruction of infrastructure, coupled with the absolute energy shortage, on the situation of newborns and their mothers. “In my entire professional career – and I am now 72 years old – I have never seen such a level of suffering among newborns intentionally caused by Israel. Such an extreme situation has never occurred in Gaza before. It is not normal for newborns to die from hypothermia.” – A pediatrician
The chapter on “Attacks on and damage to childcare facilities (orphanages) in the Gaza Strip and their impact” addresses the situation of the thousands of orphans: “According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, in 2020, 26,349 children (aged 0 to 17) in Gaza were orphans, having lost one or both parents. Between October 7, 2023, and October 7, 2025, an estimated 58,554 children lost one or both parents, and between 17,000 and 18,000 children were unaccompanied or separated from their parents.”
The Commission analyzes mental health and points to a UNFPA study from March 2026, according to which 96 percent of children in Gaza felt that death was imminent. (UNFPA is the United Nations agency for sexual and reproductive health) “Several sources have reported that children speak about death and dying, and suicidal thoughts among children are widespread. A nurse told the Commission that she saw a teenager in the clinic in Tal al-Sultan who had attempted suicide by drinking a chemical.”
As early as 2024, UNICEF estimated that nearly all of the 1.2 million children in Gaza needed psychological and psychosocial support for depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts.
West Bank
In the West Bank, dozens of children are also killed every year by bullets from Israeli soldiers and police. In 2025, 58 minors were killed – more than one child per week – a sad historical record, according to reporters Philippe Levasseur and Claire Duhamel, who produced a report for the television channel Arte. They document the fates of murdered children and adolescents and tracked down a former sniper of the Israeli army who testified on camera. This soldier denounces a deadly development: “the absence of official investigations by the Israeli judicial authorities; the confiscation of the bodies of the victims; and the use of units that the army veteran calls ‘death squads’.” (13)
Although the Israeli authorities promise the grieving families that they will investigate everything, in most cases these investigations fizzle out. Thus, impunity is perpetuated, and soldiers believe they are not doing anything forbidden, because killing has become normal.
“I have seen parents carry their children into an emergency room, even though they already knew there was no hope left. I have seen siblings call out names that would never be answered. I have looked into the faces of children whose lives ended before they had the chance to grow up. No political goal, no military strategy, no accusation, no nation, no leader can ever justify that. If the repeated killing of children does not awaken something resolute and uncompromising within us, then not only are these children the greatest victims; it is our own humanity.” Dr. Mark Brauner, American emergency physician who was on a medical aid mission in the Nasser Hospital in Gaza, July 1, 2026 (14)
This is the frightening part – humanity is dying. The world watches the murder, and the German government continues to support the murderous and criminal Israeli occupation policy with weapons and other privileges, such as the cyber agreement at the beginning of 2026 – Interior Minister Dobrindt then called Israel “our premium partner”! Our much-vaunted values such as democracy and humanity are nothing but empty phrases.
And when Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder emphasizes “Bavaria’s close ties with Israel” on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the Israeli Consulate General in Munich and does not mention the current political situation in Palestine in a single word, it is simply shameful.
Markus Söder and the German government should now urgently push for the immediate release of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, whose life is in acute danger.
Dr. Abu Safiya’s lawyer, Nasser Odeh, visited him on July 2 and reported an extremely worrying state of health. According to him, Dr. Abu Safiya has been subjected to daily torture and abuse since December 2024. During the visit, he could barely sit upright, appeared extremely frightened, and almost lost consciousness several times. “This is the last time you will see me... They brought me here to kill me,” Dr. Abu Safiya told his lawyer. According to Nasser Odeh, torture and abuse have intensified since judicial hearings for his release began last month.
“We call on all actors, especially journalists and medical professionals, to increase public and political pressure for the immediate release of the acutely threatened Dr. Husam Abu Safiya and his colleagues! IPPNW email campaign ‘Freedom for Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya’: https://www.ippnw.de/aktiv-werden/kampagnen/freiheit-fuer-dr-hussam-abu-safiya.html
https://doctorsagainstgenocide.org/actions/abu-safiya-letters
Sources:
(1) https://www.palestinechronicle.com/father-will-we-still-be-alive-tomorrow-a-gaza-doctors-appeal-from-jazic/
(2) https://pchrgaza.org/one-thousand-days-of-genocide-in-the-gaza-strip/
(3) Ibid.
(4) Ibid.
(5) Ibid.
(6) Original in English: https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2026/06/israel-continues-commit-genocide-and-other-atrocity-crimes-deliberately
(7) Ibid.
(8) Ibid.
(9) Full report available at: https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session62/a-hrc-62-crp-2.pdf
(10) Ibid.
(11) https://www.itv.com/watch/breaking-ranks-inside-israels-war/10a7329a0001B/10a7329a0001
(12) https://www.ohchr.org/sites/default/files/documents/hrbodies/hrcouncil/sessions-regular/session62/a-hrc-62-crp-2.pdf
(13) https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/131395-000-A/westjordanland-sie-schiessen-auf-kinder/?utm_source=ios&utm_medium=share&utm_campaign=131395-000-A
(14) Press release from the Office of Ambassador A34/2026, July 3, 2026, Representation of the State of Palestine in Austria, Slovenia and Croatia and Permanent Observer Mission of the State of Palestine to the UN and International Organizations in Vienna, www.palestinemission.at
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