Blinded by bias, upcoming UN report on status of ‘children in conflict zones’ omits Israeli kids
By David E. Kaplan
While required to adhere to the principles of ‘neutrality’ and ‘impartiality’ – what Shakespeare’s “Words, words, words” might dismiss as meaningless – the UN is blinded by embedded bias when it comes to Israel. True, the UN’s anti-Israel bias is hardly a new phenomenon, nevertheless it can still surprise, particularly when viewed “in context” in the putrid parlance of its head honcho, António Guterres. The “context” here is the kidnapping and then brutal murder of two red-headed babies, what all the world knows but ignored by the UN in its report.
Neither the cold-blooded strangling of the Jewish Bibas babies by Hamas terrorists nor the 12 Druze children killed by a deliberately aimed Hezbollah rocket at Majdal Shams in the Golan Heights raised the slightest professional interest in the UN to include in its upcoming report on ‘children in conflict zones’.
While referencing Palestinian kids, the murder of the Bibas baby brothers that garnered world attention covered by most international media networks, did not merit inclusion in the UN’s annual report expected to be published in June 2025.
Transparently biased, the draft of the ‘children in conflict zones’ report, glaringly omits Israeli victims, not only the murdered siblings Ariel and Kfir Bibas but also the 12 children killed by a Hezbollah rocket in Majdal Shams, which too made world headlines at the time. In reaction to the distorted report, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon described it as “…a platform for baseless accusations against Israel”.
Justifiably furious, particularly with UN’s Guterres, he continued:
“The Secretary-General once again chooses to blatantly ignore the harm done to Israeli children. As far as he’s concerned, our lives are worth less and don’t deserve to be included in this report. We will not let diplomatic terrorism prevail.”
Dannon has it right; in the eyes and hearts of most the member states of the UN, Israeli lives “are worth less” hence not warranting “… to be included” in the report.
Furthermore, the report is downright venomous. While it ignores the murder of the Bibas babies, it amplifies a report of an Israeli soldier that was falsely alleged to have “Kidnapped” a Palestinian girl, which received wide Palestinian condemnation at the time. What it failed to reveal was that the alleged ‘kidnapper’ was an IDF officer that took the infant girl after air strikes likely claimed the lives of her family. An act of concern in the midst of a heated battle was portrayed as an act of criminality – a traditional nefarious trademark of the UN when it comes to Israel. As was said about the officer, “He did the right thing and put his heart first.”
It gets worth by the report exaggerating figures, including unverifiable data from dubious Palestinian sources and deliberately deflects responsibility away from the terrorist groups for their role in placing children in harms way. A case in point is that while the report aggressively accuses the IDF of using 27 Palestinian children as “human shields,” it only vaguely references Hamas’ consistent use of civilians in such a manner. There is abundant video footage revealing Hamas’ abuse of Palestinian children as human shields by the internationally declared unlawful use of:
– children’s schools
– amusement parks, and
– kids’ bedrooms
as weapons depots and terror tunnels entrances for their vast terror network.
A clear violation of international law, the Report is happy to ignore, downplay or deflect Hamas’ turning civilian areas into terrorist targets. While the report claims the IDF used schools and hospitals for military purposes in 10 different cases, it mentions only ONE instance in which Hamas used civilian structures for military purposes. This is despite the well-documented evidence that many of these “innocent” buildings in Gaza were revealed to be bases for launching terror operations!
Hamas – unlike the UN – is well aware of Israel’s desire to minimize collateral damage and its sensitivity towards civilian casualties and knows that if the IDF uses lethal force and causes an increase in civilian casualties, it can utilize that as a ‘lawfare’ tool and can accuse Israel of committing war crimes. Hamas is also alternatively aware that if the IDF limits its use of military force in Gaza to avoid collateral damage, it – Hamas – will be less susceptible to Israeli attacks, and thereby able to protect its assets while continuing to fight. All of this escapes the attention of the UN folk who drew up the report; probably deliberately so.
There is no end to the nefarious intent of the Report’s drafters. This is further evidenced in the callous crafting of the issue of humanitarian aid, which invariably affects the welfare of children. Placing almost all the responsibility on Israel, the Report almost entirely ignores the fact that Hamas itself damaged the crossings designated for aid transfers and, according to countless testimonies and evidence, also stole aid intended for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip for its own purposes. As further reported in Ynet, “The report claims that 2,723 requests for aid were denied but downplays the fact that 5,327 requests – nearly twice as many – were approved.”
In conclusion, the UN’s annual report on children in conflict zones is characterized throughout by imbalance and an anti-Israel tone. Most glaringly so by ignoring two of the youngest Israeli Israeli victims of the war – Kfir and Ariel Bibas, who were murdered in captivity in Gaza and the 12 Druze children killed by a Hezbollah missile on a soccer field on Israel’s annexed Golan Heights.
Kids like to skip; the UN likes to skip out kids if they are Israeli – Jews and Druze alike!
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