Benjamin Netanyahu
The upcoming inclusion of Israel on a UN list of countries and armed forces found to be failing to protect children in war elicited a vehement Israeli response on Friday.
The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ annual ‘Children and Armed Conflict’ report is not due to be published until June 18, but Israel’s UN ambassador, Gilad Erdan, spoke out after receiving private notification of its inclusion.
In a statement, Erdan stated, “I am utterly shocked and disgusted by this shameful decision”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted, “The UN put itself today on history’s blacklist when it adopted the absurd claims of Hamas”, through his official ‘X’ handle.
“The IDF is the most moral military in the world and no ‘flat earth’ decision by the UN secretary-general can change that”, Netanyahu added.
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, stated that putting Israel on the ‘list of shame’ would not recover the lives of children killed or left permanently crippled by Israeli military attacks.
Riyad Mansour tweeted, “But it is an important step in the right direction towards ending the double standards and the culture of impunity Israel has enjoyed for far too long and that left our children vulnerable”.
Erdan lashed out at Guterres, adding, “The only one who is blacklisted today is the secretary-general”.
“Now Hamas will continue even more to use schools and hospitals because this shameful decision of the secretary-general will only give Hamas hope”, Erdan added.
