China's permanent representative to the United Nations Fu Cong delivers speech on February 18, 2025 at a meeting of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization. Photo: screenshot from UN website

Fu Cong, China's permanent representative to the UN, said that China strongly condemns the targeting of children in attacks and urges parties to the conflict to fulfill their obligations under international humanitarian law, at a UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting presided by US first lady Melania Trump on Monday.

Fu said that China strongly condemns the targeting of children in attacks and urges parties to the conflict to fulfill their obligations under international humanitarian law, protect children from the ravages of war and uphold the most basic moral conscience of humanity, according to China Central Television reports.

Attacks on schools are one of the six grave violations against children identified by the UN and should be firmly condemned and resolutely opposed, said Fu, noting that the international community should step up investigations into and accountability for incidents involving the harm to children and the destruction of schools, and work together to prevent further atrocities.

Melania's speech centered around the role of education for children in "advancing tolerance and world peace," according to BBC.

"We have been reminded of this truth over the last two days," she told the UNSC. "Schools in Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain and Oman have closed and moved to remote learning owing to the ongoing military operations in the region," she said.

Melania's speech came after Iranian media's reports that at least 165 people, most of them likely children, were killed in a strike on a girls' elementary school in southern Iran on Saturday.

The search for survivors in the rubble of the Shajarah Tayyebeh school in the southern town of Minab ended Sunday, according to Mohammad Radmehr, the governor of Minab, Iranian state media reported. It appeared to be the deadliest attack in the ongoing American-Israeli bombing campaign.

Shortly before Monday's session began, Iran's Ambassador to the UN, Amir Saeid Iravani, said it was "deeply shameful and hypocritical" for the US to convene a meeting on protecting children during conflict while launching airstrikes on Iranian cities.