The UN has recently decided to place the IDF on its ‘black list,’ which includes the organizations or parties considered to be using child soldiers or personally targeting children of enemies during conflicts, a decision that is sure to destabilize the relationship between the UN and Israel.
The move, which was announced and affirmed by Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan, has been made in the backdrop of thousands of Palestinian children being murdered during the continuous aggression of the Israeli armed forces on the Gaza Strip.
Erdan reacted furiously to the move, labeling it as “outrageous and wrong” while arguing that “the Israeli army is the most moral in the world.” Meanwhile, the UN stood for the decision, with a spokesperson explaining that it was a routine procedure to notify countries appearing for the first time at the annual Children in Armed Conflict list.
In a report that will go to the UN Security Council on June 14, a list of organizations and personnel involved in killing, maiming, and other terrible abuses of children caught in conflict is comprised.
Palestinian officials responded enthusiastically to the decision. Blinken’s recent statement was described as indicating that it was high time to act, considering the catastrophe in Gaza, where children and women die daily.
Human rights organizations have described the high rate of killing of children in the Palestinian territory as a result of the bombardment by Israeli forces in the recent past that has seen thousands of minors either killed or severely injured since October this year. An elderly man was killed, and several young victims were left with no medical assistance due to the complete obliteration of the healthcare system in Gaza.
One such story heard firsthand was that of a 15-year-old boy, who identified himself as Mohammad, who stated that he was paralyzed from the waist, having been shot at the back by an Israeli drone.
This seems to exacerbate the relations between Israel and the UN and reinforces the split; the Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has described the move as shameful and warned that there would be repercussions for both parties.
