United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has included Israel’s military in a global list of violators committing offenses against children, his spokesman confirmed on Friday.
Stephane Dujarric, during a press briefing, stated that Israel had been informed of its inclusion in the secretary-general’s annual report on children in armed conflict, which will be submitted to the UN Security Council next Friday.
Alongside the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad were also added to the list, according to a diplomatic source.
Dujarric mentioned that Guterres’ chief of staff contacted the Israeli UN mission on Friday, a standard courtesy given to newly listed countries to provide advance notice and prevent leaks.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan recorded a video of himself apparently calling a UN official from his office and shared part of the conversation on social media.
In the video, Erdan conveyed outrage at the UN decision, describing the IDF as “the most moral army in the world.”
“The only one who is blacklisted today is the secretary-general, whose decisions since the war started, and even before, are rewarding terrorists and incentivizing them to use children for terror acts… Shame on him!” Erdan declared.
Dujarric responded, saying it was “shocking and unacceptable” that Erdan had apparently made the private call public, noting, “I have never seen anything like this in my 24 years serving this organization.”
Israel’s inclusion on the list follows eight months of conflict in Gaza, during which over 15,500 children have died, according to the enclave’s Ministry of Health.
The war began on October 7 when Hamas launched an attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostages.
Many hostages are still being held, and Hamas’ top leaders remain at large despite Israel’s ongoing military operations.
The UN’s blacklist has previously included countries such as Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian envoy to the UN, remarked that while adding Israel to the list “will not bring back tens of thousands of our children killed by Israel over decades or restore normal life for the children permanently disabled by its actions,” it represents “an important step towards ending the double standards and culture of impunity Israel has enjoyed for far too long, leaving our children vulnerable to its consequences.”
The annual report is set to be delivered to the Security Council on June 14, with the official publication slated for June 18.
A debate on the matter will take place in the council on June 26. Regarding potential consequences, the UN spokesman noted that it will be at the discretion of council members to determine any actions.
The ongoing conflict has led to strained relations between Israel and the UN, with Israeli diplomats using their UN platforms to criticize the organization.
Israel’s dispute with the UN extends beyond the secretary-general. Israeli officials have also lambasted the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the World Health Organization, UN Women, and the UN’s Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese.
Meanwhile, dozens of UN personnel have lost their lives in Gaza since the conflict’s inception, marking the largest casualty toll in the world body’s history.
Since the October 7 attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to dismantle the UNRWA, accusing it of anti-Israeli incitement.
He proposed merging the agency with the main UN refugee agency in 2017, a move UNRWA has repeatedly denied.
In the aftermath of the attack, Israeli journalists and news outlets have intensified their scrutiny of UNRWA, amplifying stories that question its role in the war.
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