(Kaieteur News) – A United Nations independent inquiry has concluded that Israeli authorities and security forces deliberately targeted and killed Palestinian children in Gaza and the West Bank over a two-year period, finding evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and conduct that further substantiates a prior finding on genocide.

The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel presented its findings at a press conference in Geneva, recommending that the UN General Assembly call on member states to prohibit all military-related trade with Israel and impose sanctions for violations of international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Commission member Chris Sidoti addressed the Israeli public directly, centering the human cost of the documented conduct. “What kind of people are your soldiers who would allow a 14-year-old child to bleed to death over a 45-minute period?” he asked. “What kind of people are your military leaders that would inculcate a culture where soldiers feel free to do this, acting with total impunity?”