RAMALLAH, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Riyad al-Malki today handed the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, who started today a special visit to Palestine, a detailed report on the Israeli occupier’s crimes against Palestinian children.
The report included Israel’s systematic and deliberate crimes against Palestinian children, which fall within the framework of Security Council Resolution 1612 (2005) which includes killing and maiming of children, targeting schools and hospitals, sexual assaults, kidnapping of children, and denying access to humanitarian and medical aid.
Malki, upon receiving Gamba at the Foreign Ministry’s headquarters in Ramallah, considered the visit of the UN Special Representative an opportunity to be directly informed of the crimes committed by the occupation forces and settler militias against the defenseless Palestinian people, especially children.
He pointed out that the occupation forces have executed more than 52 children since the beginning of the year, some shot dead by the occupation army, others as a result of attacks carried out by settlers, or as a result of denying them access to medical treatment.
Malki also touched on the targeting of educational institutions, including targeting children, students, schools, universities, colleges and the teaching staff, as is happening in Masafer Yatta schools, various Bedouin communities, and al-Lubban al-Sawiya schools, near Nablus, whether by preventing students from reaching schools or storming schools and arresting students, as well as what schools in the Gaza Strip face, especially during the wars that Israel waged against the Gaza Strip.
He stressed that the crimes committed by Israel are a flagrant violation of international law, including human rights, humanitarian, and criminal laws, and relevant United Nations resolutions, including Security Council Resolution 1612 on grave violations affecting children in armed conflicts.
Malki warned that the new Israeli government, which includes among its members extremists and terrorists such as Ben Gvir and Smotrich, will be more hateful and vindictive of the Palestinian people and ready to shed their blood.
He called on the Special Representative to call on the occupying state to stop its grave crimes against Palestinian children, urging the international community, especially the Security Council, to fulfill its obligations and take the necessary measures to ensure protection for the Palestinian people, the children in particular, and to ensure the protection of schools, hospitals and other essential facilities.
The Foreign Minister also called on the United Nations to take the necessary measures to hold Israeli war criminals accountable and bring them to justice, in addition to including Israel, the occupying power, its army and settlers on the United Nations Secretary-General’s “list of shame” that is issued annually of parties and countries that violate the rights of children in armed conflicts.
For her part, Gamba affirmed her cooperation and coordination with the State of Palestine to protect Palestinian children in light of the escalating Israeli violations and settlers’ violence, indicating that she is aware of the daily crimes committed against Palestinian children, expressing her anger with these crimes.
She stressed that the essence of her work is to ensure the protection of children in conflict areas, and that, according to her legal mandate, she has the authority to visit conflict areas and hold meetings and talks with the parties in the regions to urge them to provide protection for children from violence and crimes.
The Special Representative stressed that this visit will not be the last and that she looks forward to cooperating with the Palestinian government and providing special training for workers in the Palestinian ministries, and that she looks forward to visiting Palestine once again to meet with civil society organizations to discuss ways of cooperation and dialogue on the violations and crimes of the occupation forces and settlers, especially the violations specified in Security Council resolution. 1612 (2005).
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, began today a special visit to Palestine, which includes the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, during which she will meet with the families of the Palestinian children victims to hear from them about the grave violations that rise to the level of crimes committed by the occupation forces against Palestinian children.
Source: Palestine News & Info Agency