United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guter-res has added Israel’s military to a global list of offenders who have committed violations against children, Israel’s UN envoy Gilad Erdan said, describing the decision as “shameful.”
Erdan said he was officially notified of the decision on Friday. The global list is included in a report on children and armed conflict due to be submitted to the UN Security Council on June 14.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the decision would impact the country’s relations with the United Nations.
Erdan said he was notified by Guterres’ chief of staff and posted a video on social media of him responding to the decision during their phone call. “I am utterly shocked and disgusted by this shameful decision of the Secretary-General,” said Erdan.
Guterres’ spokesperson, Stephane Dujarric, declined to comment. Israeli 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 Hamas”.
Guterres’ annual report to the 15-member Security Council on children and armed conflict covers the killing, maiming, sexual abuse, abduction or recruitment of children, denial of aid access and targeting of schools and hospitals. It was not immediately clear what violations Israel’s military had been accused of committing.
The list is split into two: parties that have put measures in place 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.
The report has been 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.
A spokesperson for Palestinian President Mah-moud Abbas said the U.N. decision was “a step in the right direction towards holding Israel account-able for its crimes” and that Israel should have been added long ago.
The move comes nine years after the U.N. special envoy for children and armed conflict recommended Israel and Hamas be added to the list for violations during a 2014 war in Gaza, when 540 children were among more than 2,100 Palestinians killed.
Israel lobbied then U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon hard to stay off the list, though it denied pressuring him. Ultimately, Ban did not add Israel or Hamas to the list of offenders, though the report did strongly criticize Israel over the 50-day conflict.—Agencies
