UN adds Israel and Hamas to list of offenders against children

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has added Israel's military to a global list of offenders for committing violations against children in 2023, said Israel's UN envoy Gilad Erdan, describing the decision as "shameful."

Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad will also be listed, said a diplomatic source, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Erdan said he was officially notified of the decision on Friday. The global list is included in a report on children and armed conflict that Guterres is due to submit to the UN Security Council on June 14.

It covers six violations — killing and maiming, sexual violence, abduction, recruitment and use of children, denial of aid access and attacks of schools and hospitals. It was not immediately clear what violations Israel, Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad had been listed for.

Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz said the decision "will have consequences for Israel's relations with the U.N." Israel has long had contentious relationship with the U.N. that has only worsened during the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip.

The UN said last month that at least 7,797 children

have been killed in Gaza during the eight-month-long war, citing data on identified bodies from Gaza's Ministry of Health. The Gaza government media office says in total some 15,500 children have been killed.

Israel launched an air, ground and sea assault on the blockaded Palestinian territory, killing more than 36,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.

Israeli forces bombarded a Gaza refugee camp on Friday after a deadly strike on a UN-school there, as the war entered ninth month.

The attack Friday came a day after an Israeli strike on a UN school in central Gaza killed at least 33 people, including 12 women and children, according to local health officials. The Israeli military said in that case as well that Hamas were operating from within the school, which the UN said was sheltering displaced Palestinian families.

International pressure is mounting on Israel to limit civilian bloodshed in its war against Hamas. The top United Nations court has concluded there is a "plausible risk of genocide” in Gaza — a charge Israel strongly denies.

Agencies