EDITH M. LEDERER
AP
Updated Tue, June 11, 2024
Palestinian children wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip are treated in al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah, Sunday, June 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Saher Alghorra)
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Violence against children caught in multiplying and escalating conflicts reached “extreme levels” in 2023, with an unprecedented number of killings and injuries in crises, from Israel and the Palestinian territories to Sudan, Myanmar and Ukraine, according to a new U.N. report.
The annual report on Children in Armed Conflict, obtained on Tuesday by The Associated Press, reported “a shocking 21% increase in grave violations” against children under the age of 18 in an array of conflicts, also citing Congo, Burkina Faso, Somalia and Syria.
For the first time, the U.N. report put Israeli forces on its blacklist of countries that violate children’s rights for the killing and maiming of children and attacking schools and hospitals. It listed Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants for the first time as well for killing, injuring and abducting children.
Hamas’ Oct. 7 surprise attack in southern Israe l and Israel’s massive military retaliation in Gaza have led to a 155% increase in grave violations against children, especially from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas in Gaza, said the report by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres.
The United Nations kept the Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups on its blacklist for a second year over their killing and maiming of children and attacking schools and hospitals in Ukraine. The U.N. verified the killing of 80 Ukrainian children and maiming of 419 others by Russian forces and their affiliates last year, most from explosive weapons, the report said.
Sudan, where a war between rival generals vying for power has been raging since 2023, witnessed “a staggering 480% increase in grave violations against children, the report said.
The Sudanese Armed Forces and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces went on the blacklist for killing and injuring youngsters and attacking schools and hospitals — and the paramilitary also for recruiting and using children in military operations and for rape and sexual violence.
By the end of 2023, secretary-general Guterres said the U.N. had verified 1,721 grave violations against 1,526 children. “I am appalled by the dramatic increase in grave violations,” he said, especially the recruitment, killing and maiming of children as well as sexual violence and attacks on schools and hospitals.
The growing civil war in Myanmar also saw a 123% increase in grave violations against children and the Myanmar armed forces and related militias and seven armed groups are also on this year’s blacklist. The report said the U.N. verified 2,799 grave violations against 2,093 children – including 238 killings and 623 injuries attributed to the military and its allied militias.
The United Nations verified 30,705 violations against children in 2023 and 2,285 committed earlier, affecting over 15,800 boys and more than 6,250 girls. Some were subjected to multiple violations, the report said.
While armed groups were responsible for almost 50% of the grave violations, it said, “government forces were the main perpetrator of the killing and maiming of children, attacks on schools and hospitals, and the denial of humanitarian access.”
Guterres said the alarming increase in violations is due to “the changing nature, complexity, expansion and intensification of armed conflict, the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, deliberate or indiscriminate attacks against civilians” and infrastructure and other essential buildings, as well as the emergence of new armed groups, acute humanitarian emergencies, and “blatant disregard” for international law.
The U.N. chief said he is “appalled by 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 my repeated calls for parties to implement measures to prevent grave violations.”
Guterres said he was shocked by Hamas and Islamic Jihad’s killing, maiming and abduction of children on Oct. 7, saying nothing can justify these “brutal acts of terror.” And he said he was appalled at reports of sexual violence during the attacks which must be investigated.
The magnitude of the Israeli military campaign against Hamas and Islamic Jihad “and the scope of death and destruction in the Gaza Strip have been unprecedented,” he said, reiterating calls for Israel to abide by international law and ensure civilians are not targeted, and that excessive force is not used during law enforcement operations.
In 2023, the report said, 5,698 grave 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 1 to Palestinian Authority Security Forces.
It said the process of verifying the attribution of 2,051 other violations is ongoing.
Just in the Gaza Strip, the report said the U.N. verified the killing of 2,267 Palestinian children. It said some 9,100 children were reported killed in the territory “and verification is ongoing.”
Overall in the Palestinian territories, it said, “some 19,887 Palestinian children were reported killed or maimed and “the reports are pending verification.”
On a positive note, the secretary-general reported progress in engaging with blacklisted governments and armed groups to protect children. He cited Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Colombia, Congo, Iraq, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Philippines, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen.
“More than 10,600 children formerly associated with armed forces or groups received protection or reintegration support during 2023,” Guterres said.
To get off the blacklist, government forces and armed groups must develop an “action plan” to address the violations with the office of the U.N. special representative for children in armed conflict, and then implement it.
Guterres welcomed an offer by the Israeli government on May 28 to engage with special representative Virginia Gamba to develop an action plan.
He also welcomed Russia’s continued engagement with Gamba “to end and prevent grave violations against children,” and urged its armed forces to develop and sign an action plan.
‘Unprecedented scale’ of violations against children in Gaza, West Bank and Israel, UN report says
Updated Tue, June 11, 2024
Palestinian children wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip are treated in al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al Balah, Sunday, June 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Saher Alghorra)
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Violence against children caught in multiplying and escalating conflicts reached “extreme levels” in 2023, with an unprecedented number of killings and injuries in crises, from Israel and the Palestinian territories to Sudan, Myanmar and Ukraine, according to a new U.N. report.
The annual report on Children in Armed Conflict, obtained on Tuesday by The Associated Press, reported “a shocking 21% increase in grave violations” against children under the age of 18 in an array of conflicts, also citing Congo, Burkina Faso, Somalia and Syria.
For the first time, the U.N. report put Israeli forces on its blacklist of countries that violate children’s rights for the killing and maiming of children and attacking schools and hospitals. It listed Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants for the first time as well for killing, injuring and abducting children.
Hamas’ Oct. 7 surprise attack in southern Israe l and Israel’s massive military retaliation in Gaza have led to a 155% increase in grave violations against children, especially from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas in Gaza, said the report by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres.
The United Nations kept the Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups on its blacklist for a second year over their killing and maiming of children and attacking schools and hospitals in Ukraine. The U.N. verified the killing of 80 Ukrainian children and maiming of 419 others by Russian forces and their affiliates last year, most from explosive weapons, the report said.
Sudan, where a war between rival generals vying for power has been raging since 2023, witnessed “a staggering 480% increase in grave violations against children, the report said.
The Sudanese Armed Forces and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces went on the blacklist for killing and injuring youngsters and attacking schools and hospitals — and the paramilitary also for recruiting and using children in military operations and for rape and sexual violence.
By the end of 2023, secretary-general Guterres said the U.N. had verified 1,721 grave violations against 1,526 children. “I am appalled by the dramatic increase in grave violations,” he said, especially the recruitment, killing and maiming of children as well as sexual violence and attacks on schools and hospitals.
The growing civil war in Myanmar also saw a 123% increase in grave violations against children and the Myanmar armed forces and related militias and seven armed groups are also on this year’s blacklist. The report said the U.N. verified 2,799 grave violations against 2,093 children – including 238 killings and 623 injuries attributed to the military and its allied militias.
The United Nations verified 30,705 violations against children in 2023 and 2,285 committed earlier, affecting over 15,800 boys and more than 6,250 girls. Some were subjected to multiple violations, the report said.
While armed groups were responsible for almost 50% of the grave violations, it said, “government forces were the main perpetrator of the killing and maiming of children, attacks on schools and hospitals, and the denial of humanitarian access.”
Guterres said the alarming increase in violations is due to “the changing nature, complexity, expansion and intensification of armed conflict, the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, deliberate or indiscriminate attacks against civilians” and infrastructure and other essential buildings, as well as the emergence of new armed groups, acute humanitarian emergencies, and “blatant disregard” for international law.
The U.N. chief said he is “appalled by 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 my repeated calls for parties to implement measures to prevent grave violations.”
Guterres said he was shocked by Hamas and Islamic Jihad’s killing, maiming and abduction of children on Oct. 7, saying nothing can justify these “brutal acts of terror.” And he said he was appalled at reports of sexual violence during the attacks which must be investigated.
The magnitude of the Israeli military campaign against Hamas and Islamic Jihad “and the scope of death and destruction in the Gaza Strip have been unprecedented,” he said, reiterating calls for Israel to abide by international law and ensure civilians are not targeted, and that excessive force is not used during law enforcement operations.
In 2023, the report said, 5,698 grave 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 1 to Palestinian Authority Security Forces.
It said the process of verifying the attribution of 2,051 other violations is ongoing.
Just in the Gaza Strip, the report said the U.N. verified the killing of 2,267 Palestinian children. It said some 9,100 children were reported killed in the territory “and verification is ongoing.”
Overall in the Palestinian territories, it said, “some 19,887 Palestinian children were reported killed or maimed and “the reports are pending verification.”
On a positive note, the secretary-general reported progress in engaging with blacklisted governments and armed groups to protect children. He cited Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Colombia, Congo, Iraq, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, Philippines, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen.
“More than 10,600 children formerly associated with armed forces or groups received protection or reintegration support during 2023,” Guterres said.
To get off the blacklist, government forces and armed groups must develop an “action plan” to address the violations with the office of the U.N. special representative for children in armed conflict, and then implement it.
Guterres welcomed an offer by the Israeli government on May 28 to engage with special representative Virginia Gamba to develop an action plan.
He also welcomed Russia’s continued engagement with Gamba “to end and prevent grave violations against children,” and urged its armed forces to develop and sign an action plan.
‘Unprecedented scale’ of violations against children in Gaza, West Bank and Israel, UN report says
Julian Borger in Washington
Tue, June 11, 2024
A man carries the body of a Palestinian girl, who was killed in an Israeli strike, at her funeral in Khan Younis, Gaza, on 17 October 2023.Photograph: Mohammed Salem/Reuters
More grave violations against children were committed in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel than anywhere else in the world last year, according to a UN report due to be published this week.
The report on children and armed conflict, which has been seen by the Guardian, verified more cases of war crimes against children in the occupied territories and Israel than anywhere else, including the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Somalia, Nigeria and Sudan.
“Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory presents an unprecedented scale and intensity of grave violations against children,” the report said.
Related: UN adds Israel to list of states committing violations against children
The annual assessment – due to be presented to the UN general assembly later this week by the secretary general, António Guterres – lists Israel for the first time in an annex of state offenders responsible for violations of children’s rights, triggering outrage from the Israeli government.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, issued a statement that the UN had “added itself to the black list of history when it joined those who support the Hamas murderers”.
The report details only cases that UN investigators were able to verify, so it accounts for just part of the total number of deaths and injuries of children in the course of last year.
In all, the UN verified “8,009 grave violations against 4,360 children” in Israel, Gaza and the West Bank – more than twice the figures for the DRC, the next worst place for violence against children.
Of the total number of child victims verified, 4,247 were Palestinian, 113 were Israeli.
In all, 5,698 violations were attributed to Israeli armed and security forces, and 116 to Hamas’s armed wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. Israeli settlers were judged responsible in 51 cases, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s al-Quds Brigades was involved in 21.
Between 7 October and the end of December last year, the UN verified the killing of 2,051 Palestinian children, and said the process of attributing responsibility was ongoing, but the report noted: “Most incidents were caused by the use of explosive weapons in populated areas by Israeli armed and security forces.”
The report conceded it reflected only a partial picture of the situation in Gaza.
“Owing to severe access challenges, in particular in the Gaza Strip, the information presented herein does not represent the full scale of violations against children in this situation,” it said.
The report also found grave abuses by Israeli forces in the West Bank, with 126 Palestinian children killed and 906 detained. The UN verified five cases where soldiers used boys “to shield forces during law enforcement operations”.
In the course of 2023, in the run-up to the Hamas 7 October attack on Israel, the UN said Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad’s armed wings organised “summer camps”, in which children were exposed to “military content and activities”.
In the first three months of the war, the UN verified 23 separate cases of the denial of humanitarian access by Israeli authorities “related to denied coordination of humanitarian aid missions and prevention of access to medical care”.
In the course of the Israeli offensive in Gaza, the UN found “nearly all critical infrastructure, facilities and services have been attacked, including shelter sites, United Nations installations, schools, hospitals, water and sanitation facilities, grain mills and bakeries”.
“Children are at risk of famine, severe malnutrition and preventable death,” the UN report said.
“I am appalled by the dramatic increase and unprecedented scale and intensity of grave violations against children in the Gaza Strip, Israel and the occupied West Bank,” Guterres tells the general assembly in the report.
Israel, Hamas added to U.N. blacklist over surge in 'grave violations' against children
Paul Godfrey
Wed, June 12, 2024
Palestinian children were the principal victims of a 155% jump in "grave rights violations" against minors in the Israel-Hamas war, according to the U.N.'s annual report on the impact of armed conflict on children. The report singles out Israel Defense Forces' killing and maiming of children in Gaza and attacks on schools and hospitals and Hamas and Islamic Jihad for killing, injuring and abducting children on Oct. 7. File Photo by Ismael Mohamad/UPIMore
June 12 (UPI) -- The United Nations' annual Children in Armed Conflict report will for the first time list Israel and Hamas as perpetrators of violations of the rights of children.
The report, due out Thursday, found a 155% jump in "grave violations" against minors in the Israel-Hamas conflict, singling out Israel Defense Forces' killing and maiming of children and attacks on schools and hospitals and Hamas and Islamic Jihad for killing, injuring and abducting children.
U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the war had seen an "appalling, dramatic increase and unprecedented scale and intensity of grave violations against children" across the region, with children in Gaza suffering the most.
But he said he was deeply disturbed by "brutal acts of terror" against children perpetrated by the Palestinian armed group in the Oct. 7 attacks in which 38 children were killed and 42 taken hostage and that investigating reports of sexual violence was critical.
"Some 19,887 Palestinian children were reported killed or maimed" in Gaza and the West Bank, according to the report which stresses that it has yet to verify those numbers.
The U.N. said it had, however, corroborated more than 8,000 serious violations against 4,247 Palestinian children and 113 Israeli children in 2023, noting that it was working through a 2,000-case backlog of reports of killed and injured children.
"Most incidents were caused by the use of explosive weapons in populated areas by Israeli armed and security forces," said the report said.
Unidentified perpertrators were responsible for a further 58 violations, Israeli settlers for 51, Islamic Jihad for 21, lone Palestinians for 13 while Palestinian Authority Security Forces was alleged to have been the perpetrator in one incident.
Informed of Israel's addition to the blacklist in advance, Israeli officials reacted angrily with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying the U.N. had "put itself on the blacklist of history when it joined the supporters of the Hamas murderers. The IDF is the most moral army in the world and no delusional decision by the U.N. will change that."
Israeli ambassador to the U.N. Gilad Erdan took to social media, calling lumping the IDF in with countries and organizations that harm children "simply outrageous and wrong because Hamas has been using children for terrorism and uses schools and hospitals as military compounds."
"The only one being blacklisted is the secretary-general who incentivizes and encourages terrorism and is motivated by hatred towards Israel," Erdan wrote in a post on X.
The U.N. report said the Israel-Hamas breaches were part of a wider pattern of killing and wounding of children across all conflicts around the world, including in Ukraine and Sudan, with a "shocking" 21% overall increase in "grave violations" of their rights.
The Sudanese Armed Forces and the rival Rapid Support Forces were blacklisted for killing and injuring children and attacking schools and hospitals, with RSF additionally sanctioned for using child soldiers and sexual violence.
Serious violations against children jumped almost five-fold after the civil war erupted in April 2023.
Russia's armed forces and affiliated armed groups fighting in Ukraine were on the U.N. list for the second straight year for killing 80 Ukrainian children and maiming 419, mostly with explosive weapons.
The U.N. Security Council is set to convene to discuss the report June 26.
Blacklisted governments and groups have the opportunity to have their names removed from the list by coming up and implementing a plan of action to address violations.
Israel, Hamas, Sudan rivals added to UN list for killing children
Tue, June 11, 2024
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres gives a special address on climate action in New York
By Michelle Nichols
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday named and shamed Israel's armed and security forces, Palestinian militants Hamas and Islamic Jihad, and Sudan's warring parties for killing and maiming children in 2023, adding them to an annual global list of offenders for violations against children.
In a report to the U.N. Security Council - seen by Reuters - Guterres also called out the armed forces of Israel and Sudan for attacking schools and hospitals and Hamas and Islamic Jihad for abducting children.
The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, who have been fighting the Sudanese armed forces since April last year, was also named for recruiting and using children, committing rape and other sexual violence and attacking schools and hospitals.
The report, compiled by Guterres' envoy for children and armed conflict Virginia Gamba, covers six grave violations - killing and maiming, sexual violence, abduction, recruitment and use, denial of aid and attacks of schools and hospitals.
The list attached to the report aims to shame parties to conflicts in the hope of pushing them to implement measures to protect children. It only reports on violations verified by the United Nations.
"In 2023, violence against cildren in armed conflict reached exreme levels, with a shocking 21% increase in grave violations," the report read. "The number of instances of killing and maiming increased by a staggering 35%."
"The highest numbers of grave violations were verified in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Somalia, Nigeria and Sudan," found the report, describing verification as "extremely challenging."
Russia's armed forces and affiliated groups stayed on the list, after being added last year, for killing and maiming children in Ukraine and attacking schools and hospitals.
Russia's U.N. mission did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but Moscow has denied targeting civilians since it invaded Ukraine in 2022.
GAZA, SUDAN, UKRAINE
Israel's U.N. envoy Gilad Erdan said on Friday he had been notified that Israel's military had been added to the list, describing the decision as "shameful." Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad could not immediately be reached for comment.
The report attributed 5,698 violations to Israel's armed and security forces, 116 to Hamas and 21 to Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
The U.N. verified the killing of 2,267 Palestinian children - most in Gaza between Oct. 7 and Dec. 31 - but said the process of determining attribution was ongoing, adding: "Most incidents were caused by the use of explosive weapons in populated areas by Israeli armed and security forces."
So far, it said Israel's armed and security forces were responsible for killing 206 children. The U.N. verified 136 violations against Israeli children, attributing 116 to Hamas.
There were 371 verified attacked on schools and hospitals in 2023, of which Israel's forces were responsible for 340, according to the report. The U.N. also verified five instances of military use of ambulances by Israeli forces and one case where Hamas had used a health center for military purposes.
Israel is retaliating against Hamas over an Oct. 7 attack by its militants. More than 1,200 people were killed and over 250 taken hostage by Hamas on Oct. 7, according to Israeli tallies. More than 100 hostages are believed to remain captive in Gaza.
Israel's invasion and bombardment of Gaza since then has killed more than 37,000 people, according to Gaza's health ministry. Thousands more are feared buried dead under rubble, with most of the 2.3 million population displaced.
In Sudan, the U.N. verified 1,721 violations - including the killing of 480 and maiming of 764, most during crossfire between the Sudanese armed forces and the Rapid Support Forces. It also verfied 85 attacks on schools and hospitals.
Sexual violence was verified against 114 girls in Sudan, of which the U.N. said the RSF was responsible for 57 cases.
Sudan's armed forces and the RSF did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In Ukraine, the U.N. verified the killing of 80 children and maiming of 339 - of those it said Russian forces were responsible for killing 59 and maiming 228.
It also attributed 249 attacks on schools and hospitals to Russian forces and 70 such attacks to the Ukrainian armed forces, who also used two schools and one hospital for military purposes.
(Reporting by Michelle Nichols, additional reporting by Nafisa Eltahir)
