Russian Ambassador Sindir The Head Of UNICEF Cares More About Children In Ukraine Than Gaza

Children were victims of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip. (Wikimedia Commons/WAFA in contact with APAimages)

JAKARTA - Russia's ambassador to the United Nations on Thursday rebuked UN children's agency head, UNICEF, for not providing a "strong assessment of its refusal" to brief the Security Council on children in Gaza in a meeting requested by Russia.

Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell, who is from the United States, had briefed the 15-member council on children in Ukraine "immediately" in December, during the US presidency on the council.

"So it seems to UNICEF children in Gaza are less important than children in Ukraine," Ambassador Nebenzia said.

Russia invaded neighboring Ukraine in February 2022 and has been at war since then.

Meanwhile, the latest war in the Gaza Strip between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas began in October 2023 and the ceasefire took effect on Sunday.

"The rejection of the UNICEF head to brief the Security Council on the terrible tragedy related to the deaths of tens of thousands of children in Gaza is a striking step, which deserves the most serious criticism from us," Ambassador Nebenzia told the council.

Russell himself is attending the World Economic Forum at Davos, Switzerland with a focus on handling the humanitarian crisis and unable to adjust his schedule to brief the Security Council, a UNICEF spokesman said.

"Russell has offered the Director of Emergency Statements to deliver his statement on behalf of him," a UNICEF spokesman said.

"The Executive Director of UNICEF has briefed the Security Council several times on the situation of children in Gaza and appreciated the focus of the council on children affected by the war," the spokesman said.

The UN Security Council is known to have met dozens of times to discuss the war in Gaza. On the other hand, the Israeli military, Hamas militants, Islamic Jihad and the Russian military, are all on the list of global UN violators for killing and injuring children.

In addition, Ambassador Nebenzia on Thursday also accused Washington of responsible for the deaths of children in Gaza after the US used its council's veto rights to protect Israel during the war.

He also said Uncle Sam's country ignored Russia's call to hold a meeting on Gazan children in December.

In response, Acting US Ambassador Dorothy Shea rejected Ambassador Nebenzia's accusations.

"The United States' idea of taking responsibility for the terrible suffering there is absolutely unacceptable and we completely reject it," he told the council.

Meanwhile, UN aid chief Tom Fletcher, in a briefing to the Security Council via video link from Stockholm, said bluntly a 15-month war valuation in Gaza, "Children have been killed, starving and frozen to death."

"They have been disabled, orphaned, separated from their families. Conservative estimates show that more than 17,000 children have lost their families in Gaza," he said.

"A generation has been traumatized," he said.