The UN will issue its annual report on June 14 documenting the terrible violations against children in conflict areas such as Sudan, Somalia, Congo, and other areas, but the report concludes that nothing comes close to to the “unprecedented scale of intensity” of violations committed against children in Gaza, the West Bank, and Israel itself. The Guardian received an advanced copy of the report. For the first time the UN has added Israel to the list of states committing violations against children. Predictably Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the UN report of not defending children, but rather defending Hamas.
While over 13,000 children have been killed in Gaza, the UN report only focuses on the 8,009 “grave violations” that can be completely verified and documented. The report documents 5,698 violations committed by Israeli security forces, 116 violations attributed to the Hamas al-Qassam Brigades, 51 violations committed by Israeli settlers, and 21 cases by the al-Quds Brigades of Islamic Jihad. According to the UN report, “Most incidents were caused by the use of explosive weapons in populated areas by Israeli armed and security forces.” The report further reminds the reader that because of the difficulty to access the areas of conflict, this is only a partial picture of the reality facing children. The report documents that in the West Bank, Israeli forces killed 126 Palestinian children and detained another 906. During law enforcement operations, the UN could verify five cases where Israeli soldiers used Palestinian boys as human shields. Also reported were the children’s “summer camps” hosted by Hamas and Islamic Jihad for military training.
