Overview

• The UN verified 41,370 grave violations against children last year, a 25% surge from 2023, covering killing, maiming, recruitment, abduction and attacks on schools and hospitals.
• Gaza and the West Bank bore the heaviest burden, with Israeli forces cited for 7,188 violations including the killing of 1,259 Palestinian children.
• Armed groups were responsible for nearly half of all verified abuses, while government forces chiefly perpetrated killings, maiming, school assaults and denial of humanitarian access.
• Sexual violence against minors rose by 35%, featuring widespread reports of gang rape, abduction for sexual slavery and underreported cases across multiple conflict zones.
• The report added Haiti’s Viv Ansanm gang to its blacklist for the first time and retained Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and Russia’s armed forces for their roles in child rights violations.