Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory

In the SG’s 2024 annual report on CAAC, the Israeli armed and security forces are listed in the annexes for killing and maiming children and attacks on schools and hospitals, Hamas’ Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades and affiliated factions and Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades are each listed for killing and maiming and abduction. As of November 2024, 44,382 Palestinians were reported killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of hostilities, with at least 585 attacks on healthcare facilities. On November 21, 2024, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif. In November 2024, the UN Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices reported to the General Assembly that Israel’s actions in Gaza during the war exhibited characteristics consistent with genocide, highlighting mass civilian casualties, deliberate obstruction of humanitarian aid, and the use of starvation as a weapon of war. Both Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have concluded that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. In December, the General Assembly adopted two resolutions calling for immediate ceasefire and the release of hostages. The Security Council should: 

• Unequivocally condemn all violations and abuses committed against civilians, in particular the unprecedented number of grave violations against children as verified by the UN; call on all parties to immediately end such abuses and violations, and call for accountability for all perpetrators, including at the domestic level and before the ICC; 
• Demand that all parties fully comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law (IHL) and human rights law (IHRL); and call on all parties to immediately and fully implement all relevant Security Council Resolutions, in particular, 2712 (2023), 2720 (2023), 2728 (2024), and 2735 (2024), as well as resolutions on the protection of civilians and humanitarian personnel and on CAAC; 
• Call for an immediate end to all attacks on objects indispensable to the survival of the civilian population, as well as schools, health facilities, and protected personnel, and ensure that such actions are investigated, and the perpetrators are duly prosecuted; 
• Call for the immediate, safe, and unimpeded access of humanitarian actors for the delivery of humanitarian aid, including medical services, to children and other civilians in need, and for the facilitation of medical evacuations of critically sick and injured children with caregivers; 
• Urge the Israeli armed and security forces, Hamas’ Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades and affiliated factions, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s Al-Quds Brigades to immediately cease all grave violations against children and to urgently engage with the UN to develop, sign, and implement time-bound, concrete action plans to end and prevent grave violations against children.  

THERE IS NO DESIGNATED SECURITY COUNCIL PENHOLDER ON ISRAEL AND THE OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORY.

This information is based on Watchlist’s Children and Armed Conflict Monthly Update – January 2025.