Israel exerts effort to avoid being included in UN blacklist

Israeli Major General Ghassan Alian and Israeli Envoy to the UN Gilad Erdan met on Tuesday with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to persuade him not to add Israel to the blacklist of countries and groups abusing children during conflict.

The Jewish News Syndicate (JNS) reported that Alian gave Guterres information relevant to Palestinian minors allegedly injured by errant missiles fired from Gaza that fell short into Gazan territory.

He also gave Guterres alleged “evidence” that a number of Palestinian minors killed in Israeli operations have substantial ties to terror groups, thereby distorting the picture painted in UN reports.

“The secretary-general was also provided with examples of the incitement to terror that is rampant within the Palestinian Authority, both on social media and Internet networks and in schools, which in turn cause a high level of children and teenagers to be involved in terrorist activities,” a statement from Israeli mission to the UN said.

The UN report names notorious terror organisations such as Daesh, Al-Qaeda and Boko Haram for the harm perpetrated on children.

A 2021 report warned that Israel would be added to the list should Palestinian minor casualty numbers rise in 2022, the JNS reported, as 80 Palestinian children were subject to mistreatment by Israeli occupation forces.

It also stated that the Israeli occupation rejected 1,800 applications for Palestinian children who needed medical treatment abroad. In addition, the Israeli occupation, according to the report, killed 53 Palestinian children in 2022.

Erdan said in a statement: “We presented the secretary-general with clear data proving that the majority of Palestinian minors killed in the past year were involved in acts of violence and terrorism, and this information was omitted from the UN data.”

He also said that they presented Guterres with “the fact that terrorist organisations use Palestinian children as human shields, and fire missiles and rockets from densely populated areas.”

Erdan claimed that it is the Palestinians who should be added to the blacklist for the death of their children at the hands of the Israeli occupation forces.

“Whoever is responsible for the incitement and recruitment of minors for murder and terrorism is the one who should be included on the blacklist, not the IDF [Israel Defense Forces], which is the most moral army in the world,” he claimed.

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