United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has decided to continue not to include Israeli forces on the blacklist of countries and groups violating the rights of children in conflict areas, despite holding them responsible for the majority of grave violations against children during 2020 in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Gaza and Israel.
The report of the Secretary-General of the United Nations on states and armed groups that violate the rights of children in conflict areas – the latest version of which Al Jazeera has seen – urges the Israeli occupation authorities to review and strengthen measures to prevent any excessive use of force, to ensure that force is used only when necessary, and to minimize the effects of operations its forces on children and ensuring accountability in all cases involving the killing and maiming of children. Read also Zina, Nadine and Al-Harb.. Gaza children’s surgeon who will heal her? Killing or disabling..Children of Palestine are a target for the occupation soldiers Amnesty International calls for investigation into Israeli attacks on homes in Gaza as war crimes
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Guterres renewed his call on Israel to end the administrative detention of children, prevent all forms of ill-treatment in detention, and stop any attempt to recruit detained children as informants.
The report said that the United Nations verified 30 attacks on schools and hospitals in Gaza and the occupied West Bank carried out by Israeli forces as well as Israeli settlers.
The Houthis, Assad’s forces, and the Myanmar army
Guterres decided to blacklist the Houthi group for killing or maiming more than 250 children during the year 2020.
The Myanmar military has also been blacklisted from countries and groups violating children’s rights in conflict zones.
The report also included the inclusion of the Syrian armed forces on the blacklist.
The report emphasized that despite the decrease in the number of violations targeting children compared to 2019, the United Nations remains deeply concerned about the number of children killed and maimed, including through the use of live ammunition during law enforcement operations.