Video: Israeli envoy, UN official embroiled in heated exchange at hearing on children in conflict — Here's what happened
Tensions flared at the United Nations on Friday as a public hearing descended into a heated verbal confrontation between Israel's ambassador and the UN secretary-general's
Tensions flared at the United Nations on Friday as a public hearing descended into a heated verbal confrontation between Israel's ambassador and the UN secretary-general's special representative for children and armed conflict. During an event in New York marking the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, Israeli envoy Danny Danon called for the resignation of Pramila Patten, accusing her of prejudice after a report she prepared placed Israel on a UN blacklist over alleged violations for the first time, according to Reuters. You caved to the secretary-general's obsession with targeting Israel,” Danon said, referring to UN Secretary-General António Guterres. A separate UN official, Vanessa Frazier, Guterres’ representative for children and armed conflict and the author of another report that also included Israel on a blacklist, intervened by raising a point of order. She called on Danon to stop making “personal attacks” and said she had “verified evidence.” Danon then told Frazier to remain silent, stating, “We are a member state, and you work for the U.N., and you will be quiet now.
You will be quiet... you and your shameful report,” he stated. Frazier, Malta’s former UN ambassador, presented her report this week on behalf of António Guterres, warning that Israeli settler groups may be added to a global blacklist over alleged violations against children. The UN secretary-general also expressed concern over what he described as a “staggering” increase in violations against Palestinian children. Israel is already included in the report’s so-called “list of shame” annex for alleged violations. Following the release of Patten’s report last month, Danon condemned it as “a new low,” while Israel’s foreign ministry announced it would cut all ties with Guterres, who is set to complete his 10-year term at the end of the year. Both reports also include Israel’s adversary Hamas on the blacklist. Govt forces ‘main perpetrators’ of violations against children in conflict: UN A record number of nearly 25,000 children affected by conflict were subjected to grave violations last year, including killings, sexual violence and forced recruitment, according to a new United Nations report.
For the first time, government forces, rather than armed groups, emerged as the leading perpetrators, as per AP. The annual report by Guterres, released this week, includes a blacklist of violators involving government forces from eight countries and 67 armed groups across 16 nations and territories. Overall violations, which also cover abductions, attacks on schools and hospitals, and denial of humanitarian aid, increased for the fourth consecutive year to 38,558, the report said. Based on verified UN data, it found that 24,174 children, about one-third of them girls, were affected, with thousands experiencing multiple abuses. “The scale and persistence of these violations demand more than acknowledgment — they demand resolve,” Frazier remarked in an analysis of the report. She called on the 193 UN member states to respond to the findings, urging them to “recognize that protecting children is not an aspiration but an obligation, and that the decisions taken today will shape the futures they may or may not live to claim.” For the first time in the 30 years since the UN began monitoring violations against children in conflict, the report stated that “government forces were responsible for a majority of grave violations.” According to the 2025 list, the Israeli military and its security forces recorded the highest number of violations at 12,445.
The BriefWire