Statement

On the Day of the Palestinian Child, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates reminds that Palestinian children remain the groups most targeted by the occupying Power and its settler militias; 

In the year 2022, Israel, the occupying Power, detained nearly 900 Palestinian children, and murdered nearly 40 others, while injuring and forcibly displacing dozens of others; 

Criminal and illegal policies and practices of the Israeli occupation devastate lives of Palestinian children, including by targeting and demolition of schools and the use of civilians as human shields;

Home demolitions, displacement of Palestinian Jerusalemites, the illegal siege on the Gaza Strip, torture and inhumane practices, as well as the escalating terrorist armed attacks by armed Israeli settler militias are also instrumental to devastate lives of Palestinian children;

Combined, these criminal actions and illegal practices create an unbearable and traumatic daily reality for Palestinian children who remain deprived of any form of protection to which they are entitled;
As these criminal Israeli policies and practices against the Palestinian people escalate, Palestine’s calls on all duty-bearers to fulfill their obligations toward Palestinian children and ensure Israel’s compliance with relevant international conventions and laws;

In this regard, the Ministry reaffirms its standing request to the United Nations Secretary General to comply with his obligation to list Israel, the occupying Power, as a systemic violator of the rights of children; 

Ignoring the compelling evidence in this regard is a grave dereliction that directly contributes to the pervasive culture of impunity that allows such atrocious violations of the rights of Palestinian children to continue without consequence;
Protecting and defending the dignity, rights, and life of Palestinian children remains a central objective of Palestinian efforts at the diplomatic and legal tracks and the Ministry reiterates its determination to pursue this objective with determination and conviction.