UN chief will add Israel to global blacklist for violations against children

Israel’s UN envoy on Friday said he was “disgusted” that the Israeli army is to be included on an upcoming United Nations list of countries and armed forces that fail to protect children during war.

“I am utterly shocked and disgusted by this shameful decision,” UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan said in a statement.

“Israel’s army is the most moral army in the world and you know it. This is an immoral decision that only aids terrorism and rewards Hamas.”

The annual “Children and Armed Conflict” report from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has not yet been published, but Erdan was responding after receiving notification of Israel’s inclusion on the list of countries that do not take adequate measures to shield children from conflict.

“The only one who is blacklisted today is the secretary-general,” Erdan said. “Now Hamas will continue even more to use schools and hospitals because this shameful decision of the secretary-general will only give Hamas hope.”

Gaza is suffering through a war which broke out after Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, mostly civilians.

Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 36,731 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the territory’s health ministry.

Israel has also delayed the entry of aid into Gaza, depriving the territory’s 2.4 million people of clean water, food, medicines and fuel.

Last week, the World Health Organization said that more than four in five children had gone a whole day without eating at least once in 72 hours.

According to the Hamas government media office, at least 32 people, many of them children, have died of malnutrition in Gaza since the war began.

Guterres’ report is expected to be published by the end of June.

The report highlights human rights violations against children in around 20 conflict zones. Last year, Russia’s military and armed entities linked to Russia were included on the list.

Rights groups have long pushed for Israel’s inclusion and in 2022, the United Nations issued a warning that Israel would need to show improvements in order not to be added.