UN places Israel on ‘blacklist’ of offenders that harm children in conflict

The United Nations has added Israel to its blacklist of global offenders, which includes groups, organisations, or countries that have committed abuses against children in armed conflicts.

Israeli officials confirmed that the UN had notified them that the Secretary-General included the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in the annual report on children in armed conflict.

Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are already listed in the report, which will be sent to the UN Security Council next Friday.

Israel vehemently denounced the UN’s move, with its ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, blaming the Secretary-General for facilitating terrorists and calling the IDF "the most moral army in the world."

Antonio’s chief of staff called Israel’s UN Mission to inform them about the move as a courtesy "to give those countries a heads-up and avoid leaks,” spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a press briefing.

According to sources, Gilad Erdan recorded a video of himself during the call and shared it on social media, saying, “The only one who is blacklisted today is the Secretary-General, whose decisions since the war started, and even before, are rewarding terrorists and incentivizing them to use children for terror acts… Shame on him!”

Dujarric found the release of the private call “shocking and unacceptable,” adding, “something he had never seen in my 24 years serving this organization.”

Earlier, Palestinian rights supporters had criticised the UN Secretary-General for not including Israel on the blacklist, which already includes countries like Russia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, Syria, and Haiti

Since the onset of Israel’s war on Gaza on October 7, the military onslaught has resulted in the deaths of at least 36,586 people and left 83,074 wounded.

According to the UN, more than 14,000 Palestinian children have been killed, and countless more injured, coping with disease or facing starvation.