Israel added to UN 'blacklist' of parties that harm children in conflict
Israel's
UN ambassador outraged over notice of country's admission to blacklist,
claims Israeli army is 'most moral in the world'
Palestinian
children hold signs at a UN school housing displaced Palestinians in
Gaza City on 4 June 2024, amid the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza (Omar
al-Qattaa/AFP)
The United
Nations has placed Israel on a blacklist of countries that have
committed abuses against children, after Israeli forces killed thousands
of Palestinian children in its ongoing war on Gaza.
The placement of Israel was confirmed by Israel's ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, who said on X
that he received the notification and was outraged at the move. He also
shared on the social media platform a recording of the call in which he
received the news from a UN official.
"This is simply outrageous and wrong," Erdan said.
"I responded to the shameful decision and said that our army is the
most moral in the world. The only one being blacklisted is the secretary
general who incentivises and encourages terrorism and is motivated by
hatred towards Israel."
Stephane Dujarric, a spokesperson for the UN secretary general, said
during a press briefing on Friday that a UN official called the Israeli
ambassador to inform him of the listing as "a courtesy afforded to
countries that are newly listed" in the UN's annual "Children in Armed
Conflict" report.
"It is done to give those countries a heads-up and avoid leaks," Dujarric told reporters.
That report will be presented to the UN Security Council on 14 June.
Reuters reported citing a UN official that the Palestinian groups Hamas
and Islamic Jihad would also be added to the list.
Dujarric added that Erdan's publishing of the phone call "is shocking
and unacceptable – and frankly something I've never seen in my 24 years
serving this organisation".
The UN's annual report on children in armed conflict lists "parties
engaging in violations against children", and includes documented
killing and maiming, as well as sexual violence.
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The list includes the countries of Russia, the Democratic Republic of
the Congo, Somalia and Syria. It also includes non-state actors such as
the Islamic State (IS) group, al-Shabaab, the Taliban and al-Qaeda,
among others.
According to the government media office in Gaza, Israeli forces have
killed more than 15,571 Palestinian children in the besieged enclave
during its war.
Rights groups and UN agencies have decried the impact Israel's war
has had on the Palestinian civilian population, including its acute
impact on children.
The UN children's fund (Unicef) said that nine in 10 Palestinian
children in Gaza face "severe child food poverty" which the agency said
is "one of the highest percentages ever recorded".
Several Palestinian children have died from starvation, thirst and acute malnutrition.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) said last week that four in five
Palestinian children in Gaza "did not eat for a whole day" for at least
one out of the past three days.
Late last month, the image of a Palestinian child decapitated from an
Israeli air strike in Rafah had gone viral on social media, sparking
further outrage at the Israeli military.