Bayan News – the United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres announced on Tuesday (June 11) that the Israeli army, Hamas and Islamic Jihad have been added to the UN blacklist for killing and maiming children.
Reuters obtained a copy of Guterres’ report to the UN Security Council, which shows that Israeli and Sudanese forces were added to the blacklist for attacks on schools, hospitals and groups associated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad, while Hamas and Islamic Jihad were added for abducting children.
The report, prepared by Guterres’ envoy Virginia Gamba on children and armed conflict, includes six grave violations: killing and maiming, sexual violence, abduction, attacks on schools and hospitals, and denial of humanitarian access.
The report, which only includes verified cases by the UN, states: “In 2023, violence against children in armed conflict reached new levels, with a 21% increase in the number of verified grave violations and a 35% increase in the number of children killed and maimed.”
According to the report submitted by the UN Secretary-General to the Security Council, the highest number of grave violations occurred in Israel and the Palestinian territories, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Myanmar, Somalia, Nigeria and Sudan.
More than eight months have passed since the war between Israel and Hamas, and regional and global diplomatic efforts to contain the deadly conflict in Gaza have not yielded results.
According to published statistics, more than 37,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip have been killed in Israeli army attacks, including women and children.
