According to a United Nations report, violence against children in conflict areas reached unprecedented levels in 2023 with an alarming number of fatalities and injuries, especially in the Gaza Strip.

The report, released by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, revealed that children were "killed and maimed in record numbers during devastating crises," notably in the occupied Palestinian territory.

The annual Children and Armed Conflict report highlighted a "shocking 21 percent rise in severe violations" against children under 18 in conflicts such as those in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burkina Faso, Somalia, and Syria.

In 2023, the UN verified 30,705 violations against children, impacting over 15,800 boys and 6,250 girls, some suffering multiple violations.

Almost 50 percent of these grave violations were committed by armed groups, but "government forces were the primary perpetrators of killings and maimings, attacks on schools and hospitals, and denial of humanitarian access."

For the first time, the UN included Israeli forces on its blacklist of child rights violators due to the killing and maiming of children and attacks on educational and medical institutions. Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad were also listed.

The report attributed 5,698 grave violations in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory to Israeli forces in 2023, along with 116 to Hamas, 58 to unknown perpetrators, 51 to Israeli settlers, 21 to Islamic Jihad, 13 to Palestinian individuals, and one to Palestinian Authority security forces.

The UN is still verifying an additional 2,051 violations.

The violence from the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel on October 7 and Israel's subsequent military campaign in Gaza resulted in a surge of severe violations against children, largely due to the use of explosive weapons in densely populated areas in Gaza.

In the Gaza Strip, the UN confirmed the deaths of 2,141 Palestinian children, though approximately 9,100 children's deaths are reported and pending verification.

Overall, "some 19,887 Palestinian children were reported killed or maimed," with reports awaiting verification across the Palestinian territories.

Guterres stressed that the intensity of the Israeli military campaign in Gaza and the scope of destruction and death were unprecedented, urging Israel to comply with international laws, avoid targeting civilians, and refrain from excessive force.

He expressed grave concerns over the "dramatic increase and unprecedented scale and intensity of grave violations against children in the Gaza Strip, Israel, and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem," despite his repeated calls for preventive measures.

‘Denial of humanitarian access’

In Sudan, where conflict between rival generals erupted in April 2023, there was a "shocking 480 percent rise in grave violations against children," according to the report.

Both the Sudanese military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces were blacklisted for killing and injuring children and attacking schools and hospitals. The paramilitary force was also cited for recruiting children and engaging in sexual violence.

By the end of 2023, the UN had verified 1,721 grave violations against 1,526 children in Sudan.

Guterres said he was appalled by the significant increase in severe violations, including child recruitment, killings, maimings, sexual violence, and attacks on schools and hospitals.

In Myanmar, a growing conflict resulted in a 123 percent increase in grave violations against children, leading to the blacklisting of Myanmar’s armed forces, associated militias, and seven armed groups.

The UN verified 2,799 grave violations against 2,093 children in Myanmar, including 238 deaths and 623 injuries attributed to the military and its allied militias.

For the second consecutive year, the UN kept Russian armed forces and affiliated groups on its blacklist for killing and maiming children in Ukraine and attacking schools and hospitals.

The UN verified that 80 Ukrainian children were killed and 419 were injured by Russian forces and their affiliates, primarily from explosive weapons.

Virginia Gamba, the UN's special representative on children and armed conflict, noted a "disturbing trend" of parties to conflicts using schools and hospitals for military purposes.

"I urge all parties to avoid using schools for military purposes and to ensure hospitals retain their protected status," Gamba stated at a press conference at the UN headquarters in New York.

The UN reported 5,205 verified instances of denying humanitarian access to children, representing a 32 percent increase from previous years, which Gamba described as "unacceptably high."