New York: As the eight-month-long war continues in Gaza despite mounting international calls for a ceasefire, Israel and Hamas have now been added to a so-called "list of shame" by the United Nations, which is attached to an annual report by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for alleged human rights violations against children in armed conflict. This is the first time Israel will join the ranks of Russia, the Islamic State, al-Qaeda, Boko Haram and others on the list.
Guterres sends the list to the UN Security Council and the council can then decide whether to take action. The United States is one of five veto-wielding permanent Council members and has been reluctant to act against Israel, its longtime ally. The council took no action when the UN named Russia on the blacklist last year for killing boys and girls and attacking schools and hospitals in Ukraine.
The inclusion of Israel this month will likely just put more of a global spotlight on the country's conduct of the war in Gaza and increase already high tensions in its relationship with the global body. Israel reacted with outrage, sending news organisations a video of its UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan berating the head of Guterres' office.
Why are Israel and Hamas added to the list?
The preface of last year's UN report says it lists parties engaged in “the killing and maiming of children, rape and other forms of sexual violence perpetrated against children, attacks on schools, hospitals and protected persons." The annex at the end of the report mentions "listed parties that have not put in place measures during the reporting period to improve the protection of children", known as the "list of shame", according to the Times of Israel.
The militant group Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad groups also will be listed. The Palestinian UN 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", but it was an important step in the right direction.
Israel has for months faced international criticism over civilian casualties in Gaza and questions about whether it has done enough to prevent them in the eight-month-old war, which still continues, as dozens of Palestinians were killed in two recent Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, including one on a UN-sponsored school. UN agencies warned that over one million Palestinians in Gaza could experience the highest level of starvation by the middle of next month if hostilities continue.
Israel's furious response
Condemnation of the secretary-general's decision appeared to bring together Israel's increasingly fractious leadership — from the right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Gilad Erdan to the popular centrist member of the War Cabinet, Benny Gantz. "This is simply outrageous and wrong because Hamas has been using children for terrorism and uses schools and hospitals as military compounds," Erdan said on X.
"I responded to the shameful decision and said that our army is the most moral in the world. The only one being blacklisted is the Secretary-General who incentivizes and encourages terrorism and is motivated by hatred towards Israel. The Secretary-General should be ashamed of himself!," he added.
"Today the UN added itself to the black list of history when it joined those who support the Hamas murderers. The IDF is the most moral army in the world; no delusional UN decision will change that," said Netanyahu in his response to Israel's addition to the "list of shame".
Gantz cited Israel's first prime minister, David Ben-Gurion, as saying “It matter not what say the goyim (non-Jews), what is important is what do the Jews.” This came after Israel struck another UN-run school in Gaza, killing three people, days after an airstrike in another school killed 33 Palestinians, including 12 women and children. As the war completed its eighth month on Friday, Gaza's Health Ministry said Israel's campaign has killed more than 36,730 people. The Health Ministry does not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
(with inputs from agencies)
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