Russia military and allied militant groups have been named on the UN’s “list of shame” because of dozens of children it has neutralized and maimed, during its aggression in Ukraine. On the contrary, Israeli forces were opted out of the list, despite having killed more than 40 Palestinian kids in 2017.
Human rights groups had repeatedly requested that Israel be put to the UN blacklist for murdering and injuring Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations, branded UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres’ move to exclude Israel off the list a “big mistake” on Thursday.
Guterres stated that, he was “appalled by the high number of grave violations against children in Ukraine” in 2022 in the UN’s annual report on the welfare of children in conflict areas, tendered to members of the UN Security Council. Also, the documents revealed that, 477 children were killed in Ukraine last year, with 136 of the deaths directly attributable to Russian military and allied groups.
Research also identified that, Ukrainian forces were to blame for the deaths of 80 youngsters. Neither of the opposing parties could be condemned with confidence for the remaining kid casualties. According to the UN report, the majority of the children were killed by air strikes.
The UN further confirmed that, 480 attacks on schools and hospitals, as well as 518 kidnappings by Russian soldiers and allied groups, occurred in Ukraine. Again, Russian forces allegedly deployed 91 youngsters as human shields. Ukrainian armed forces on the other hand, wounded 175 children and attacked 212 schools and hospitals. Ukraine forces were not included on the list.
According to the source, the UN Secretary-General is “deeply concerned” about the sheer quantity of Palestinian youngsters killed by Israeli troops in 2022.
According to the study, Israeli soldiers killed 42 Palestinian youngsters and injured 933 more in 2022. Israeli troops killed 78 Palestinian youngsters in 2021. In spite of all these records, Israel has never been named on the United Nations’ list of countries, condemned for killing children.
According to Guterres, there was a “meaningful decrease in the number of children killed by Israeli forces, including by air strikes” last year, as compared to the previous report.
Human Rights Watch applauded the UN’s decision to name Russian forces but chastised the UN Secretary-General for leaving Israel off the list, stating he had “failed Palestinian children again.”
“By adding Russia’s forces to his list of shame, the Secretary General is holding them to account for horrific violations against children. Guterres’s unwillingness, year after year, to hold Israeli forces accountable for their grave violations against children has backfired, only emboldening Israeli forces to use unlawful lethal force against Palestinian children. From 2015-2020, the UN attributed over 6,700 child casualties to Israeli forces. He has just verified 975 more in 2022. Yet he still omits Israel from his ‘list of shame’.”
Jo Becker, Advocacy Director for Children’s Rights.
However, Mansour, the Palestinian UN envoy, asserted that, leaving Israel off the list was “very disappointing to the Palestinian people and children.”
“The Secretary General made a big mistake in not listing this current Israeli government.” Its fascist aspects make it the most radical administration. When would you name the Israeli government, if you do not list this administration now,” Mansour queried. “It’s unfortunate that he selected not to list them.”
The report from UN has long been a source of contention, with diplomats alleging that, Saudi Arabia and Israel have exerted pressure in recent years in order to avoid being included on “the list of shame.”
