Palestinian foreign ministry urges Israel be placed on UN 'list of shame' for child rights abusers

The Palestinian foreign ministry urged the United Nations to list Israel as a children's rights violator in a statement marking the Day of the Palestinian Child on Wednesday.

It said that Israel killed almost 40 Palestinian children last year and detained nearly 900 others, citing a range of other abuses with a "devastating" impact on Palestinian children, including school and home demolitions and torture.

"The ministry reaffirms its standing request to the United Nations Secretary General [António Guterres] to comply with his obligation to list Israel, the occupying power, as a systemic violator of the rights of children," it said in a statement.

"Ignoring the compelling evidence in this regard is a grave dereliction that directly contributes to the pervasive culture of impunity that allows such atrocious violations of the rights of Palestinian children to continue without consequence."

The call is an apparent reference to the UN secretary general's yearly "list of shame", which contains serious abusers of children's rights.

Israel has never been included, said Jo Becker, advocacy director for Human Rights Watch's children's rights division, after the list was updated in July.

"Israel has been getting away with [the] murder of children… and arrest of children for decades," Palestinian ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot told The New Arab.

"It's long overdue to list Israel on such a list and shame the Israeli government and the Israeli army for this most heinous of crimes against our children over the years."

Amnesty International UK's crisis campaigns manager Kristyan Benedict said Palestinian children are impacted by the system of apartheid which Amnesty said that Israel was implementing last year.

"Israel's racist and dehumanising system of apartheid does not spare Palestinian children because Israeli laws and policies are designed to deprive all Palestinians of their human rights," he said.

"For instance, torture during arrest and interrogation of Palestinians is widespread and a key tool of Israel's apartheid system. Palestinian detainees, including children, have reported torture by Israeli authorities for decades but with minimal international action to stop this.

"A failure by the UN to publicly call out abhorrent violations against children and hold the perpetrators to account will not protect children – it will do the opposite."

The foreign ministry statement mentions the use of civilians as human shields, the displacement of Palestinians from Jerusalem, the blockade of the Gaza Strip and escalating attacks by armed settlers as other abuses impacting children.

Palestinian children face "an unbearable and traumatic daily reality" and "remain deprived of any form of protection to which they are entitled", the ministry said.

It urged "all duty-bearers to fulfil their obligations toward Palestinian children" and make sure Israel abides by international conventions and laws.

The New Arab has contacted the office of UN Secretary General Guterres's spokesperson for comment.