The United Nations has said that UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has added Israel to its blacklist of countries alleging it of committing abuses against children in armed conflict. Several disturbing visuals have surfaced since the beginning of the Israel-Palestine war, that have exposed the barbaric acts, tarnishing the image of humanity, sparing none including children. The secretary-general annually makes a global list that comprises states and militias that are responsible for menacing children and threatening them. What happens when GS adds a country to the blacklistThe report authored by the UN Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, Virginia Gamba could hamper Israels image as the report will be cited across various UN bodies, including the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Security Council and others. Israel also fears that its inclusion in the list could lead to an arms embargo. This would also include that special reports on Israel will be prepared by the Special Representatives office, which will be presented to the Security Council. Israels prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, stated that the UN had “added itself to the black list of history when it joined those who support the Hamas murderers”.Blacklisted countries undergo sanctions in an attempt to bring behaviour change. The UNSC can impose sanctions in response to threats to international peace and security of the world. The UN sanction list is maintained by its member states and organizations to eliminate terrorism, human rights violations, drug trafficking and so on. Such countries and groups are exposed to a wide range of diplomatic, economic, travel and sport-related limitations including trade bans, various restrictions on travel, preventing the country from participating in various international events, and also the termination of cooperation, breaking all diplomatic bounds. Other countries that have been added to the list Countries including Afghanistan, Congo, Mali, Myanmar, Somalia, Sudan, Yemen, and Syria and groups such as Al-Qaeda, Daesh, Al-Shabaab and Boko Haram have also been blacklisted. The Russian army was included in the list last year following its attack on Ukrainian schools and hospitals and for transferring children from Ukraine to Russia.
