Israeli Ambassador Tells Security Council to Care More about Muslim Children, Like 7 Year-Old Hassan

"In the Middle East, the illicit trafficking of small arms is a big problem.

Small arms are the weapons of choice for terrorists who seek to spread fear and undermine stability. For years Iran has destabilized and radicalized the Middle East. In recent years it has also intensified its campaign to smuggle weapons to its terrorist proxies, including the Houthis in Yemen, Shiite militias in Iraq, Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Syrian Golan, and Hamas in Gaza...

In Iraq, Syria, and Yemen, terrorists groups have taken advantage of the chaos and instability to raid unsecured weapons caches. After securing the weapons, terrorist groups recruit and kidnap young boys to fight their battles. In Yemen, for instance, 7 year-old Hassan, was recruited by Houthi rebels to man checkpoints. Instead of learning to read and write, Hassan's only lessons are how to use his Kalashnikov rifle.

Like Hassan, countless young boys, have been forced to give up their childhoods to fight someone else's war. The next generation of children in our region deserves a brighter future – a future without hate, without conflict, and without terror..."