World | Mon Jun 8, 2015 6:57pm EDT

U.N. keeps Israel, Hamas off children's rights blacklist; raps Israel army

UNITED NATIONS | BY MICHELLE NICHOLS AND LOUIS CHARBONNEAU

The United Nations on Monday left Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas off its blacklist of states and armed groups that violate children's rights during conflicts, but criticized Israel over its 2014 military operations.

U.N. special envoy for children and armed conflict, Leila Zerrougui, had included Israel's army and Hamas in a draft of the report she had sent to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Ban had final say on the blacklist, which was distributed to Security Council members on Monday.

U.N. sources have said Ban's decision to override Zerrougui's recommendation was unusual. They also said Israel lobbied Ban hard to stay off the list, though it denied pressuring him.

Still, his report strongly criticized Israel.

"The unprecedented and unacceptable scale of the impact on children in 2014 raises grave concerns about Israel's compliance with international humanitarian law ... (and) excessive use of force," he said.

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