Palestinian children ‘unprotected’ as NGOs forced out of Gaza and West Bank

Israel is pushing humanitarian groups and rights defenders to scale down operations in Palestinian territories.Children are “increasingly unprotected” as humanitarian groups and rights defenders are forced to scale back their operations in the Palestinian territories, the United Nations has warned.Many civil society and aid organisations in Gaza and the West Bank have been labelled “terrorists” by pro-Israel groups or politicians, the UN-committee-on-the-rights-of-the-child" class="entity-link entity-organization" data-entity-id="150753" data-entity-type="organization">UN Committee on the Rights of the Child warned in a statement issued on Monday, noting that their absence leaves children vulnerable.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4Israel kills ‘a child a day’ on average in Gaza despite ceasefire, UN sayslist 2 of 4Al Jazeera cameraman Ahmed Wishah killed in Israeli attack in Gazalist 3 of 4Gaza’s surfers seek solace from war in the Mediterranean Sealist 4 of 4‘Kind, principled’: Colleagues remember Gaza journalist killed by Israelend of list“For more than three decades, these organisations have played a vital role in defending Palestinian children, including in the Israeli military courts, and in documenting grave violations against Palestinian children at the hands of Israeli forces,” the committee said.“Without them, Palestinian children will be even less protected, and violations of their rights risk continuing with impunity,” it added.Issued by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for human rights (OHCHR), the statement noted that tactics used to delegitimise these human rights groups also include “military raids, travel bans, personal financial sanctions, threats of arrest, destruction of records, and even threats of secondary sanctions against partners who support their work”.The committee said this made it “increasingly impossible for these organisations to operate safely or protect the children and families who turn to them for help”.The committee urged the international community to hold Israeli authorities accountable for the attacks committed against Palestinian human rights defenders.