New York: United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has added Israel's military to a global list of offenders for committing violations against children in 2023, said Israel's UN envoy Gilad Erdan, describing the decision as "shameful." Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad will also be listed, said a diplomatic source, speaking on condition of anonymity. Erdan said he was officially notified of the decision on Friday.
The global list is included in a report on children and armed conflict that Guterres is due to submit to the UN Security Council on June 14. It covers six violations - killing and maiming, sexual violence, abduction, recruitment and use of children, denial of aid access and attacks on schools and hospitals. It was not immediately clear what violations Israel, Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad had been listed for. Israel's Foreign Minister, Israel Katz, said the decision "will have consequences for Israel's relations with the UN" Israel has long had a contentious relationship with the UN that has only worsened during the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.
The UN said last month that at least 7,797 children had been killed in Hamas-ruled Gaza during the eight-month-long war, citing data on identified bodies from Gaza's Ministry of Health, which the UN considers reliable. The Gaza government media office says that, in total, some 15,500 children have been killed. According to Israel's National Council for the Child, 38 children were killed in the October 7 Hamas-led attack that sparked the war, and 42 of some 250 people taken hostage in Gaza on October 7 were children. All but two children have been released.
Erdan expresses shock at UN's decision
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Guterres' chief of staff called Erdan on Friday as a "courtesy afforded to countries that are newly listed on the annexe of the report." Erdan posted a video on social media of him responding during the phone call. "I am utterly shocked and disgusted by this shameful decision of the Secretary-General," said Erdan.
"Israel's army is the most moral army in the world, so this immoral decision will only aid the terrorists and reward Hamas." Dujarric described the video and its partial release as "shocking and unacceptable and frankly something I've never seen in my 24 years serving this organisation."
The report is compiled by Virginia Gamba, Guterres' special representative for children and armed conflict. The list attached to the report aims to shame parties to conflicts in the hope of pushing them to implement measures to protect children. The list is split into two: parties that have put in place measures to protect children and parties that have not. Erdan said he was told Israel had been included on the list of parties that had not put in place adequate measures to protect children. Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that the UN had "added itself to the black list of history when it joined those who support the Hamas murderers."
