Israel Hit At U.N. Over Palestinian Child Rights

[Purveyor]

GENEVA (Reuters) - Arab countries and Cuba on Wednesday accused Israel of grossly violating the rights of Palestinian children during its December assault on Gaza.

But in a debate in the United Nations Human Rights Council, a coalition of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) charged that a range of Islamic countries, especially Iran, had been executing children, calling it "the ultimate barbarity."

The Gaza attack at the end of December "left children as the main victims, with many severely wounded, and even many cases of a serious pathological nature as a result of destruction wrought by Israel," declared a Yemeni delegate.

Palestinian researchers have said around 1,300 Palestinians were killed in the attack, of whom 280 were under 18.

Speaking for all Arab states on the 47-member Council, the Yemeni delegate said the incursion -- which Israel says was aimed at stopping cross-border rocket attacks on its towns near Gaza -- was "a violation of every humanitarian law."

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REUTERS: http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE52A5ZD20090311