UN to Declare that Both Israel, Hamas Are Violating Children’s Rights

The U.N. secretary-general will inform the Security Council that both Israel and Hamas are violating children’s rights, leaving them vulnerable to danger in their conflict aimed at eradicating each other.

According to The Associated Press, the head of Secretary-General António Guterres’ office contacted Israel’s U.N. ambassador, Gilad Erdan, on Friday to notify him that Israel, along with Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, will be mentioned in the report when it is submitted to the council next week.

Israel reacted with outrage, sending news organizations a video of Erdan berating the head of Guterres’ office, supposedly on the other end of a phone call.

“Hamas will continue even more to use schools and hospitals because this shameful decision of the Secretary-General will only give Hamas hope to survive and extend the war and extend the suffering,” Erdan wrote in a statement. “Shame on him!”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said “the U.N. put itself on the black list of history today” as the move heightened the long-running feud between Israel and the U.N. and even the routine mechanics of Israel’s dealings with the world body are now fraught with tensions.

Adding Israel to the report this month is expected to intensify global attention on the country’s actions during the conflict in Gaza and further escalate already heightened tensions in its relationship with the international body.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian U.N. ambassador said that adding Israel to the “‘list of shame,’ will not bring back tens of thousands of our children who were killed by Israel over decades,” reported Politico.

Last year’s U.N. report states that it identifies parties involved in “the killing and injuring of children, sexual violence against children, including rape, and attacks on schools, hospitals, and individuals under protection.”

Earlier, U.N. agencies had warned that over 1 million Palestinians in Gaza could experience the highest level of starvation by the middle of next month if hostilities continue.

According to an analysis by the Associated Press of data from the Gaza Health Ministry, there seems to be a significant decrease in the proportion of Palestinian women and children killed in the Israel-Hamas conflict. This trend aligns with Israel’s shifting battlefield strategies but contradicts public statements made by the ministry.

Last year, when the United Nations blacklisted Russian forces for their role in killing children and targeting schools and hospitals in Ukraine, no action was taken by the council, despite Russia being one of its permanent members.