Violence against children caught in multiplying and escalating conflicts has reached “extreme levels” in 2023 with unprecedented numbers of killings and injuries, including in the occupied Palestinian territory, according to a United Nations report .
Children have been “killed and mutilated in unprecedented numbers during devastating crises”, particularly in the Gaza Strip, according to the report released Thursday by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.
The annual Children and Armed Conflict report reveals “a shocking 21% increase in serious violations” against children under 18 in a range of conflicts, such as in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burkina Faso, Somalia and in Syria.
The UN verified 30,705 violations against children in 2023, affecting more than 15,800 boys and 6,250 girls. Some were subject to multiple violations, according to the report.
While armed groups are responsible for almost 50 percent of serious violations, the report states that “government forces are the main perpetrators of the killing and mutilation of children, attacks on schools and hospitals, and denial humanitarian access”.
For the first time, the UN report placed Israeli forces on its blacklist of countries that violate children’s rights by killing and maiming children and attacking schools and hospitals. It also lists for the first time the armed groups of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
In Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, in 2023, according to the report, 5,698 serious violations against children were attributed to Israeli forces, 116 to Hamas, 58 to unidentified perpetrators, 51 to Israeli settlers, 21 to Islamic Jihad , 13 to Palestinian individuals and one. to the security forces of the Palestinian Authority.
It said the process of verifying the attribution of another 2,051 violations was ongoing.
The attacks carried out by Hamas on October 7 in southern Israel and the war waged by Israel against Gaza have led to an increase in serious violations against children, in particular due to the use of explosive weapons in populated areas from Gaza, according to the report.
In the Gaza Strip alone, the report said, the UN verified the killing of 2,141 Palestinian children. However, he indicated that around 9,100 children were killed in the territory “and that verifications are underway”.
Across the Palestinian territories, he said, “some 19,887 Palestinian children are believed to have been killed or mutilated and the reports are awaiting verification.”
The scale of the Israeli military campaign in Gaza “and the scale of death and destruction in the Gaza Strip are unprecedented,” Guterres said, reiterating calls for Israel to respect international law and ensure that civilians are not targeted and excessive force is not used. used.
The UN chief said he was “dismayed by the spectacular increase, unprecedented scale and intensity of grave violations against children in the Gaza Strip, Israel and the occupied West Bank, including Jerusalem -East, despite my repeated calls on the parties to implement measures to prevent serious violations. violations.”
“Denial of humanitarian access”
Sudan – where a war between rival generals has raged since April 2023 – has seen “a staggering 480% increase in serious violations against children”, according to the report.
The Sudanese army and rival Rapid Support paramilitary forces have been added to the blacklist for killing and injuring youths and attacking schools and hospitals. Paramilitaries have also been cited for recruiting and using children in military operations as well as rape and sexual violence.
By the end of 2023, Guterres said, the UN had verified 1,721 grave violations against 1,526 children in Sudan.
“I am appalled by the dramatic increase in serious violations,” he said, particularly the recruitment, killing and mutilation of children as well as sexual violence and attacks on schools and hospitals.
The intensifying civil conflict in Myanmar has also led to a 123 percent increase in serious violations against children, and the Myanmar Armed Forces, associated militias and seven armed groups have been blacklisted.
The report said the UN verified 2,799 grave violations against 2,093 children, including 238 killings and 623 injuries attributed to the army and its allied militias.
The UN has kept Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups on its blacklist for a second year over the killings and mutilations of children in Ukraine and attacks on schools and hospitals there.
The UN verified the killing of 80 Ukrainian children and the mutilation of 419 others last year by Russian forces and their affiliates, mainly using explosive weapons, the report said.
Virginia Gamba, special representative of the secretary-general for children and armed conflict, said one of the “worrying” trends observed was the continued use of schools and hospitals for military purposes by parties to the conflict.
“I urge all parties to the conflict to cease the military use of schools and ensure that hospitals retain their protected status,” Gamba said, speaking to reporters at UN headquarters in New York.
She said the UN reported 5,205 verified incidents of denial of humanitarian access to children, which is “an unacceptably high figure, representing an increase of 32 percent compared to previous years.”