Battle for Rafah intensifies with no sign of ceasefire soon in Gaza

Chris Gunness, former spokesman for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), said the Israeli military’s inclusion on a UN “blacklist” of countries that harm children will increase the country’s isolation and further diminish its international standing.

“This is the ultimate list of shame that Israel has been put on because the killing of children breaks the ultimate taboo,” Gunness told Al Jazeera.

“Some of the groups and countries on this list include Boko Haram, ISIS, al-Qaeda, Russia, Myanmar. This puts Israel in a list of some of the most appalling regimes and groups in the world,” Gunness said. “Hamas and Islamic Jihad are also there, including, by the way, Israeli settlers for the things they are doing in the West Bank.”

“Given the totality of what we are seeing in terms of accountability mechanisms: We’ve got the ICJ – the International Court of Justice – the International Criminal Court. We have reports coming up from the Human Right Council. I think as things build up, so the isolation and pariah status of Israel will be continual, and continually reaffirmed,” he said.

“I think that will have consequences as people see the totality of what is going on,” he added.