Riyadh, Tel Aviv Rapped by UN for Killing Children
Guterres also reported that the highest number of Palestinian children had been killed or injured last year since 2014, mainly by Israeli forces, though no parties were blacklisted in the annex to the annual Children in Armed Conflict report, seen by Reuters.
The report, which does not subject those listed to action but rather shames parties to conflicts in the hope of pushing them to implement measures to protect children, has long been controversial with diplomats saying Saudi Arabia and Israel both exerted pressure in recent years in a bid to stay off the list.
The Israeli UN mission did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the latest report.
Saudi UN Ambassador Abdallah Al-Mouallimi said the report acknowledges steps taken by the coalition to safeguard children, saying that “every child’s life is precious.” But he also questioned the sourcing and accuracy of the report, describing the numbers as “exaggerated.”
The coalition had been briefly added to the blacklist in 2016 and then removed by Ban pending review. At the time, Ban accused Saudi Arabia of exerting “unacceptable” undue pressure after sources told Reuters that Riyadh threatened to cut some UN funding. Saudi Arabia denied threatening Ban.
