Palestinian PM calls on UN to place Israel on ‘list of shame’ after teen killed by regime forces
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh has called on the United Nations to place the Israeli regime on its secretary-general’s annual “list of shame” for violations against children, after Israeli troops fatally shot a teenage girl during a raid in the northern West Bank city of Jenin.
During a meeting with the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba, in Ramallah, Shtayyeh denounced the killing of 16-year-old Jana Majdi Zakarneh as another crime to be added to the long list of horrifying crimes committed by Israeli forces against Palestinian children.
Gamba started on Monday a special visit to occupied Palestinian territories, including the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, during which she will meet with the families of Palestinian children murdered at the hands of Israeli forces to hear about the grave violations perpetrated by Israeli soldiers against Palestinian minors.
Separately, Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki handed Gamba a detailed report on the occupying Tel Aviv regime’s crimes against Palestinian children.
The report sheds light on Israel’s systematic and deliberate crimes against Palestinian children and falls within the framework of Security Council Resolution 1612 (2005) on children and armed conflict.
Malki pointed out that while Israeli forces have executed more than 52 children since the beginning of the current year, several have been shot dead due to attacks carried out by extremist Jewish settlers or as a result of denying them access to medical treatment.
He also pointed to Israeli attacks on Palestinian educational centers, including schools, colleges and universities, as well as students and teaching staff, as was the case in the Masafer Yatta area in the southern West Bank, various Bedouin communities, and al-Lubban al-Sawiya schools near the city of Nablus.
The top Palestinian diplomat 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 such as Security Council Resolution 1612.
He urged Gamba to demand that the Israeli regime stop its grave crimes against Palestinian children, and asked the international community, especially the Security Council, to fulfill its obligations and take necessary measures aimed at protecting Palestinian people, children in particular, as well as schools, hospitals and other essential facilities.
Malki also called on the United Nations to adopt proper measures to hold Israeli war criminals accountable and bring them to justice.
Israeli forces have recently been conducting overnight raids and killings in the northern occupied West Bank, mainly in the cities of Jenin and Nablus, where new groups of Palestinian resistance fighters have been formed.
Since the start of 2022, Israeli troops have killed more than 210 Palestinians, including more than 50 children, in the occupied West Bank and East al-Quds as well as the besieged Gaza Strip.
According to the United Nations, the number of Palestinians killed by Israel in the occupied West Bank this year is the highest in 16 years.
Local and international rights groups have condemned Israel’s excessive use of force and “shoot-to-kill policy” against Palestinians.
