UN report highlights record rise in grave violations against children in 2025

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres released the annual 'Children and Armed Conflict' report on Wednesday, documenting 38,558 grave violations affecting 24,174 children in 2025. This figure represents a record high since data collection began in 1996. The report confirmed 14,224 children killed or maimed, with 6,266 fatalities marking a 34% increase from 2024. In the occupied Palestinian territories, the UN confirmed the deaths of 2,668 children in Gaza and 57 in the West Bank. Guterres expressed concern over the extensive use of explosive weapons in populated areas, specifically citing the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Israel, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Myanmar, and Somalia as the regions with the highest levels of violations. While Israel is already included in the report, Guterres warned for the first time that groups of Israeli settlers may be added to the blacklist in the future due to the surge in attacks against Palestinian children.