Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz has strongly condemned the UN Secretary General's decision to include the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) on a blacklist of entities harming children during conflicts. Katz labeled the move as "shameful" and stated that Israel rejects it "with disgust."
Katz emphasized that this decision, made solely by the UN Secretary General, demonstrates his ongoing hostility towards Israel and his deliberate disregard for the Hamas attack on October 7 and Israel's right to self-defense. Katz criticized the Secretary General for ignoring Hamas' sex crimes, despite a report on the subject by UN Special Representative Patten.
He further claimed that the report on Israel and the Palestinians is based on unverified and distorted data, produced by biased organizations such as the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Katz noted that OCHA recently halved the reported number of children and women killed in Gaza without explanation, relying on data from Hamas' Ministry of Health. Katz asserted that Israel will expose these distortions to the international community.
Declaring the IDF as the "most moral army in the world," Katz asserted that no fabricated report would change this perception. He warned that this decision would have "consequences" for Israel's relations with the UN.
