UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has named and shamed Israel's armed and security forces, Palestinian militants Hamas and Islamic Jihad and warring parties in Sudan for killing and maiming children by 2023, adding- them to an annual global list of offenders for violations against children.
The Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres.Credit: AP
In a report to the UN Security Council on Tuesday (US time), Guterres also called out the armed forces of Israel and Sudan for attacking schools and hospitals and Hamas and Islamic Jihad for kidnapping children.
“By 2023, violence against children in armed conflict reached extreme levels, with a shocking 21% increase in serious violations,” the report says.
“The number of cases of murder and maiming increased by 35 percent.
“The highest number of serious violations was verified in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Somalia, Nigeria and Sudan,” the report found, calling verification “extremely difficult “.
The report attributes 5,698 violations to Israel's armed and security forces, 116 to Hamas and 21 to Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The UN verified the killing of 2,267 Palestinian children, most of them in Gaza between October 7 and December 31, but said the process to determine attribution was ongoing, adding: “The most of the incidents were caused by the use of explosive weapons in populated areas by the Israeli armed forces and security forces.”
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In 2023, there were 371 verified attacks on schools and hospitals, of which Israeli forces were responsible for 340, according to the report.
The UN also verified five cases of military use of ambulances by Israeli forces and one case of Hamas using a health center for military purposes.
Israel is retaliating against Hamas for an October 7 attack by its militants. More than 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 were taken hostage by Hamas on October 7, according to Israeli records. More than 100 hostages are believed to be held in Gaza.
Israel's UN envoy Gilad Erdan said on Friday that he had been notified that the Israeli army had been added to the list, calling the decision “shameful”. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad could not immediately be reached for comment.
