UNITED NATIONS: The upcoming inclusion of Israel on a UN list of countries and armed forces failing to protect children in war prompted a furious Israeli response Friday.
“I am utterly shocked and disgusted by this shameful decision,” UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan said in a statement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted on his X social media account that the UN had “added itself to the blacklist of history when it joined those who support the Hamas murderers.”
“The IDF is the most moral army in the world; no delusional UN decision will change that,” he wrote.
The annual “Children and Armed Conflict” report from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is not due to be published until June 18, but Erdan went public after receiving notification of Israel’s inclusion on the list of countries that do not take adequate measures to shield children from conflict.
A diplomatic source told AFP that Hamas and another Palestinian group, would also appear on the list.
Erdan lashed out at Guterres, saying: “The only one who is blacklisted today is the secretary-general.”
Israel says struck Hamas at UN school, Gaza officials report 3 dead
“Now Hamas will continue even more to use schools and hospitals because this shameful decision of the secretary-general will only give Hamas hope,” he said.
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, according to an AFP tally based on Israeli official figures.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed at least 36,731 people in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas-run 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.
The UN 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.
“We can’t confirm it, but if it’s true, it’s a thoroughly justified, albeit long overdue, move by the secretary-general,” said Louis Charbonneau from Human Rights Watch.
“It’s something we’ve long called for, along with listing Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups.”