03:05 PM
Israel was notified on Friday of his inclusion on the “list of shame” for violations of children’s rights during conflicts, which will also include the groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, diplomatic sources indicated.
Every year the UN Secretary General publishes a report in which lists violations of children’s rights in twenty conflict zones around the world and identifies in an annex those responsible for these violations, the so-called “list of shame”, which includes cases of murdered and mutilated children, recruitment, kidnapping or sexual violence.
While the release of the next report is expected at the end of June, Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, announced that the secretary’s chief of staff general had notified him of Israel’s addition to the list.
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“I am deeply shocked and disgusted by this shameful decision of the secretary general“, Erdan is seen saying on the phone in a video that he posted on his account on the social network X. “It is an immoral decision that helps terrorism and rewards Hamas”he added.
“Today the UN itself included herself in the blacklist of History”Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted in X.
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“You know that the Israeli army It is the most moral army in the world”Erdan also said.
Guterres’ spokesman confirmed having spoken with the Israeli ambassador as part of a usual “courtesy call” when a country is included on the list.
A diplomatic source told AFP that Hamas and Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian armed movement, will also join it.
“Completely justified”
Last year, the Russian armed forces and armed groups “affiliated” with Moscow were added to the UN “list of shame.” But this was not the case for Israel, much to the dismay of human rights organizations that have been calling for its inclusion for years.
“It is completely justified” that Israel was included this year, “although it should have been done a long time ago,” as well as “that of Hamas and other Palestinian groups,” Louis Charbonneau of Human Rights Watch told AFP.
The UN warned in its 2022 report that Israel would be added to the list if no improvement was seen.
Last year’s report noted “a significant decrease in the number of children killed by Israeli forces, including in airstrikes”between 2021 and 2022.
But the war between Israel and Hamas, triggered on October 7 by an unprecedented attack by the Palestinians against Israel – which resulted in the death of 1,194 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP count based on official data Israelis–, the situation changed.
In response to the October 7 attack, the Israeli military launched a deadly offensive in the Gaza Strip. At least 36,731 Palestinians, mostly women and children, were killed, according to a latest report Friday from the Gaza Health Ministry.
