NEW YORK - The United Nations has accused Israel of killing 42 Palestinian children in 2022, most of them from live ammunition fired by Israeli forces, an internal report sighted by German news agency (dpa) on Thursday showed.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres, on whose behalf the report was prepared, said he was "deeply concerned" not only by the number of children "killed and maimed" but also by the number taken into custody by Israeli forces.
However, he stressed that the number of children killed by Israel had decreased.
The number of minors mutilated in the region last year was 517 to 524 Palestinians and seven Israelis.
The UN did not put the Israeli forces on the UN list of organisations committing serious offences against children in armed conflict. According to diplomats, the United States had exerted strong pressure on the international organisation to keep the assessment of the UN report as moderate as possible.
The security situation in Israel and the Palestinian territories has long been tense. Palestinians die time and again in Israeli military operations, while Israelis die in Palestinian attacks.
Israel took over the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the Six-Day War in 1967. The Palestinians claim the territories for their own state. - BERNAMA