Israel and Hamas on UN blacklist for violence against children for second year running
An annual report for 2024, issued by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and released on Friday, identified nearly 20 conflict zones worldwide where the rights of children under 18 have been violated. The report includes a list that names groups and armed forces responsible for abuses such as killing and maiming children, recruiting minors for violence, kidnappings, denying humanitarian aid and sexual violence.
The report for 2024 said more than 8,500 incidents had been verified in Israel and Palestine - the highest globally - with 2,917 Palestinian and 15 Israeli children killed or maimed.
The October-December 2023 period saw a sharp spike, with 1,637 Palestinian children killed and 1,147 injured, compared to two Israeli child deaths.
'These figures represent real children whose lives have been violently torn from them, whose schools have been bombed, and who have been left without access to life-saving humanitarian aid,' said Bethany Ellis, director of Watchlist on Children and Armed Conflict.
The report also called out Israel's military operations in Lebanon, where more than 500 children were killed or injured last year.
Violence against children in war zones around the world surged to 'unprecedented levels' last year, with the highest number of grave abuses recorded in nearly three decades.
The report documented a 25 per cent surge in severe abuses against children compared to 2023, continuing a worsening trend.
'In 2024, violence against children in armed conflict reached unprecedented levels, with a staggering 25 per cent surge in the number of grave violations,' the report said.
A total of 41,370 violations were verified – 36,221 committed in 2024 and 5,149 from prior years but newly confirmed – the highest since the UN began systematic monitoring. The figure surpasses 2023's record, which itself saw a 21 per cent rise from 2022.
More than 4,500 children were killed and 7,000 injured, with minors enduring 'the brunt of relentless hostilities and indiscriminate attacks', the report said. It also noted a sharp increase in children suffering several acts of abuse, with 22,495 such cases recorded.
'The cries of 22,495 innocent children who should be learning to read or play ball but instead have been forced to learn how to survive gunfire and bombings, should keep all of us awake at night,' said Virginia Gamba, special representative of the UN Secretary General for children and armed conflict.
'This must serve as a wake-up call. We are at the point of no return."
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Middle East Eye
29 minutes ago
- Middle East Eye
UK: 27 arrested under Terrorism Act at Palestine Action protest
Twenty-seven people have been arrested under the Terrorism Act at a demonstration in support of the direct action group Palestine Action, in London's Parliament Square, while Palestine activists blocked the London Pride parade to protest its ties to companies complicit in Israel's war on Gaza. The group, which included an 83-year-old priest, a former government lawyer, an Emeritus professor and health workers gathered by the statue of Mahatma Gandhi in Parliament Square holding cardboard signs saying, "I opposed genocide, I support Palestine Action", according to campaign group Defend our Juries (DOJ). This comes as the government's move to proscribe the direct action group, Palestine Action, came into force on Saturday after MPs overwhelmingly voted to ban the group as a terrorist organisation on Wednesday, alongside neo-Nazi militant groups Maniacs Murder Cult and the Russian Imperial Movement. A bid by the group to apply for interim relief to temporarily block the ban pending a judicial review was rejected by the High Court on Friday. The court's decision was later upheld by the Court of Appeal in a judgement issued less than two hours before the order banning the group was due to take effect at midnight local time on Saturday. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters Now, membership of and support for the group is a criminal offence punishable by up to 14 years in prison. Ahead of Saturday's protest to challenge the move, the 27 demonstrators notified the Met Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, of their plans, saying: "We do not intend to cause you any alarm. We are committed to nonviolence and there is no risk whatsoever of anyone being harmed." The group also wrote to Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, saying: "We do not wish to go to prison or to be branded with a terrorism conviction. But we refuse to be cowed into silence by your order. We refuse to surrender to you our humanity." Videos circulated online showed the arrest of an 83-year-old priest who was escorted away by police. "I'm here to stand up for the people of Palestine and [to oppose] the designation of [Palestine Action] as a terrorist organisation which is total nonsense," she said. "We are losing our civil liberties in this country." A video seen by Middle East Eye showed Tim Crosland, a former government lawyer, being carried away by police in handcuffs. "This is what happens in modern day Britain for opposing genocide, its quite something isn't it?" he said as he was being hauled into a police van. A DOJ spokesperson said in a statement: "We commend the Counter Terrorism police for their decisive action in protecting the people of London from some cardboard signs opposing the genocide in Gaza and expressing support for those taking action to prevent it. It's a relief to know that Counter Terrorism police have nothing better to do." They added that 'further actions are expected to follow shortly'. "Officers are responding to a protest in support of Palestine Action in Parliament Square. The group is now proscribed and expressing support for them is a criminal offence. Arrests are being made," Metropolitan Police wrote on X. No place at Pride Meanwhile, four activists from climate justice and pro-Palestine group, Youth Demand blocked a float at London Pride belonging to Cisco, a US company which provides technology to the Israeli military. The group threw red paint over the float as it was passing through Piccadilly, before sitting down in the road and glueing themselves to the float, bringing the parade to a halt. 'Like a kidnapping': How UK police are hunting pro-Palestine activists Read More » In a post on X, Youth Demand said that Cisco 'have willingly supplied their technology to strengthen Israel's genocidal assault on Gaza and have NO place at London pride', adding that the group demands a total trade embargo on Israel and an end to the pinkwashing of complicit corporations. Police arrested five people, according to Youth Demand. Video footage shared by the group showed activists being hauled away by police. 'Cisco should never have been at Pride, the UK government needs to take accountability for what it's letting happen in Gaza,' one activist said. 'Cisco is pretending to care about minorities and oppressed groups while they're enabling a genocide. They're here at London Pride pinkwashing,' another shouted as she was being carried away. Reya Wood, a 22-year-old student from Swansea said: "I am taking action against Cisco at London Pride to highlight the company's complicity in genocide and how they are hiding their crimes behind a veil of pinkwashing. As a queer woman, this action is particularly meaningful to me. I refuse to stand aside and allow my queer identity to be exploited for commercial gain at the hands of war criminals."
Middle East Eye
2 hours ago
- Middle East Eye
Ten things the UK could do if it truly cared about Palestinians
Supporters of Israel frequently decry the alleged double standards applied to it, noting that Israel has been the subject of far more critical UN resolutions than any other nation. They argue that it suffers disproportionate international opprobrium for its treatment of Palestinians, particularly since it launched its devastating assault on Gaza following the brutal attacks by Hamas on 7 October 2023. Advocates for Israel ask why there is not the same level of public attention and outrage about other ongoing wars and humanitarian crises, such as in Sudan or Myanmar. They also try to shut down proper debate about Israel's actions by dismissing all criticism as motivated by antisemitism - a loaded accusation that fails to differentiate between genuinely abhorrent hate speech and intimidation directed against Jews in general and more targeted expressions of concern about specific Israeli actions in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. It is a useful ploy because it deflects attention and automatically guilt-trips westerners due to the history of the Holocaust and Israel's undeniably vulnerable early years, surrounded by hostile Arab states. I would argue that whatever the historical twists and turns of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the boot is firmly on the other foot when it comes to double standards today. Israel is no longer a weak, fragile state struggling to survive but overwhelmingly the most dominant and militarily capable power in the region. New MEE newsletter: Jerusalem Dispatch Sign up to get the latest insights and analysis on Israel-Palestine, alongside Turkey Unpacked and other MEE newsletters It is no longer Israelis who are at risk of being driven 'into the sea' but Palestinians. It is no longer Israelis who are at risk of suffering a second genocide, but Israelis who are now committing actions tantamount to a genocide of their own. Israel was entirely justified in taking action after the truly atrocious events of 7 October to try to prevent another such attack and secure the release of the Israeli captives taken by Hamas. I make no argument in support of Hamas, which triggered the latest round of fighting, is prolonging the crisis by refusing to release the captives and has itself weaponised humanitarian aid. It is a terrorist group to be shunned entirely. But Israel's response in Gaza has now gone way beyond what might be deemed legitimate or proportionate. It has involved numerous violations of international humanitarian law - such as firing on civilians, medical teams and journalists - and does not appear to be part of any plausible end strategy to ensure longer-term peace and security in the region. Massive moral failure Israel is being allowed to get away with behaviour that western democracies would condemn in the most forceful terms if undertaken by any other country. Precisely because Israel is a democracy and one that we treat as an ally, it is incumbent on us to hold it to the highest standards. In other raging conflicts, such as Sudan, where evidence of war crimes exists on both sides, at least the West does not actively tip the scale in favour of one party over another. In Israel's case, the West still defends many of its actions, supplies its army with weapons and intelligence, and equivocates about the degree to which it has violated international law as Palestinians die in their tens of thousands. Follow Middle East Eye's live coverage of the Israel-Palestine war Collectively, the West's response to the tragedy in Gaza is a massive moral failure. Beyond some ritual handwringing, rhetorical expressions of concern, and a few feeble sanctions on a handful of Israeli figures, there has been no substantive action to rein in Israel's excesses in Gaza or to offer genuine protection for Palestinian civilians caught up in the conflict. Israel is a clear-cut case of western leaders failing to live up to their stated commitment to human rights and the concept of 'never again'. At the time of writing, both Palestinians and the families of Israeli hostages were waiting to see whether new US-led ceasefire efforts would succeed. But if this process collapses, as has happened repeatedly in the past, here's a list of concrete measures the UK government could take - alone or with like-minded partners - if it truly cared about the Palestinian people. 1) No-fly zone: Propose the establishment of a no-fly zone over Gaza, as former Prime Minister John Major did in the early 1990s over Iraq to protect the Kurds in the north and Shia Muslims in the south from Saddam Hussein's brutal regime. UK planes helped to protect Israel from Iranian attacks. Why don't we protect Palestinians from Israeli bombs? Announcing the launch of the mission in April 1991, Major acknowledged that he did not have all the answers as to how long it would last or precisely how it would operate, but he noted: 'We do not have a long time to leave the Kurds where they are at the moment, and for them to safely survive… Action is needed; it is needed now, and that is what is going to happen.' Last year, UK planes helped to protect Israel from Iranian attacks. Why don't we protect Palestinians from Israeli bombs? 2) Secure aid: Offer to escort humanitarian aid convoys into Gaza, as was done in the 1990s to reach victims of war in the former Yugoslavia. This would address both Israel's concerns that aid must not be diverted by Hamas and Palestinians' concerns about being able to access supplies safely. Again, I quote Major, who announced this plan at a conference in London in 1992: 'We must ensure that humanitarian supplies are distributed to the victims of this conflict… It cannot be done by force but it must be done in safety.' He added: 'We have no hostile intent to any party in Bosnia, but I have to say to the conference that we will not be deflected from our determination to deliver aid wherever it is needed.' Arms and sanctions 3) Cut arms exports: Stop supplying weapons and other material support to the Israeli army - at the very least, until Israel has agreed to open up far more corridors for humanitarian supplies to enter Gaza. A recent High Court ruling that Britain's sale of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel is lawful has provided legal cover for UK arms supplies to Israel to continue. But just because something is lawful does not make it right. The UK could, at the very least, choose to apply more rigorous conditions to its continued supply of arms and intelligence analysis to Israel. As Iain Overton, the executive director of Action on Armed Violence, wrote in the aftermath of the case, a particularly troubling aspect was the government's argument that 'to withdraw from the programme would imperil NATO and the western alliance. In doing so, they made clear that the commercial and strategic value of the arms trade outweighs the lives of Palestinian civilians'. This is an obscenely immoral calculation. Ignore Starmer's theatrics. Gaza's trail of blood leads straight to his door Read More » 4) Ramp up sanctions: Broaden the scope of UK sanctions against individuals in Israel - which currently apply to just two far-right ministers for inciting violence against Palestinians, as well as some extremist Israeli settler groups in the occupied West Bank - to cover all members of the current Israeli cabinet, on the grounds that they share collective political responsibility for war crimes committed in Gaza. We have sanctioned Russian President Vladimir Putin and his cronies for their attempts to seize parts of Ukraine by force. Why not sanction Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his cronies, who have made no secret of their aspirations to seize full control of Gaza? We have the authority to do it. In 2020, the UK introduced a new global human rights sanctions regime, allowing it to impose targeted asset freezes and travel bans on individuals involved in major human rights abuses. Announcing the launch, Dominic Raab, then the foreign secretary, said that it would initially cover the 'very worst' human rights violations, including assassinations, torture and slavery, but that it could be expanded to cover other abuses. A government spokesperson explained at the time that future targets 'may include those who commit unlawful killings perpetrated against journalists and media workers'. According to a report by the Watson School of International and Public Affairs' Costs of War project, more journalists have been killed in Gaza - 232 - than in both world wars, the Vietnam War, the wars in Yugoslavia and the US war in Afghanistan combined, making it the deadliest conflict for media workers ever recorded. Under the UK's own criteria, this alone would merit sanctions. Raising awareness 5) Try to reach Gaza: UK ministers could join other western leaders in trying to enter Gaza to show support for innocent Palestinian victims of the war and highlight the dire situation there, just as they have repeatedly done to show solidarity with Ukraine, flying to Kyiv and being photographed with President Volodymyr Zelensky. 6) Join protests: Instead of spending time trying to shut down debate about Israel's actions, ministers could join those trying to raise awareness of the plight of Palestinians. Instead of trying to curtail demonstrations, they could march alongside peaceful protesters. They could call out double standards in right-wing media about the conflict, for example, where extensive coverage is given to individual Israeli deaths, while Palestinian deaths are often reduced to anonymous statistics. They could condemn cases of Islamophobia, not just cases of antisemitism. 7) Disseminate footage: Just as Israel compelled western leaders and policymakers to watch videos of the 7 October atrocities, the UK could compile videos of the current situation in Gaza, including the most heart-rending cases of children starving to death or dying of injuries or untreated conditions - and insist that Israeli embassy staff in London watch them, that journalists based in London watch them, and that the UK's national television channels broadcast them. Israelis were understandably appalled by images of ordinary Palestinians and pro-Palestinian activists celebrating the 7 October attacks. Perhaps they should be made to watch footage of Maccabi football fans celebrating the deaths of Palestinian children, Israeli soldiers filming themselves mocking the death and destruction in Gaza, and right-wing settlers rampaging through Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank. The UK could also ask the UN Security Council to watch such videos. If Israel complains that the videos are one-sided or distorted, the UK could spearhead an effort to require Israel to allow international journalists or inspectors into Gaza, along the lines of what was previously done to allow arms inspectors into Iraq and Iran. 8) Support war crimes cases: The UK could actively support the war crimes cases against both Hamas and Israel rather than simply dropping its objection, as the new Labour government did last year. It could help compile evidence of atrocities committed by both sides for the International Criminal Court (ICC), as it did when supporting war crimes cases against members of the Bosnian Serb regime in the 1990s. I was personally involved in that effort, sifting through hundreds of testimonies gathered from Bosnian refugees. This past January, at a UN Security Council meeting to discuss the situation in Sudan, the UK representative argued that the ICC 'has a key role to play in ensuring perpetrators are held accountable for crimes committed in Darfur' and that the court should be allowed to 'carry out its important work in Darfur and elsewhere without interference'. The UK should apply the same standard to Gaza and call out the US for its efforts to hinder the ICC's work there. The path forward 9) Actively mediate: The UK could take a more proactive role in trying to facilitate an end to the Gaza war and to achieve a longer-term regional peace, rather than standing by as the US conducts back-channel discussions with the Israelis, Gulf states and Egypt. The UK has plenty of experience in hosting international conferences, including ones aimed at ending the wars in Yugoslavia in the 1990s. If a ceasefire is achieved, perhaps the UK could coordinate international discussion on the reconstruction of Gaza, options for Palestinian statehood and international security guarantees along the lines of what it has been willing to offer Ukraine. 10) Enforce global commitments: The UK could try to revive the lapsed notion of 'responsibility to protect', adopted at a UN World Summit in 2005. In a recent address to the UN General Assembly, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres lamented the fact that 'two decades on, the responsibility to protect remains both an urgent necessity, a moral imperative and an unfulfilled promise', calling for a renewed global commitment to the concept. The UK could make the case for this to apply to the Palestinian people. Tens of thousands are dying because not enough aid is being allowed in and they are not allowed out The US would undoubtedly seek to veto any Security Council action. But the UK did not raise any objections to US and Israeli action against Iran without explicit UN authorisation, nor did it let Russian vetoes prevent it from acting in support of Ukraine. In 1999, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair justified his support for military action in Kosovo in an address to the nation, saying that 'these are our fellow human beings… old women humiliated, young men massacred, just for being Albanian, just for being there when the Serb killing machine arrived'. He acknowledged that all humanitarian interventions were fraught with risk but concluded that, in the end, it is 'simply the right thing to do'. As in Kosovo, people in Gaza are dying in droves simply for being Palestinian. Men, women and children who had nothing to do with the attacks of 7 October are dying because they are in the wrong place at the wrong time. Tens of thousands are dying because not enough aid is being allowed in and they are not allowed out. Taking more robust action to protect the Palestinian people is simply the right thing to do. The views expressed in this article belong to the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Middle East Eye.
The National
3 hours ago
- The National
Syria willing to work with US to revive 1974 disengagement deal with Israel
Syria has said it wants to work with the US to reimplement the 1974 disengagement agreement with Israel, which created a UN-patrolled buffer zone separating the two countries' forces. During a phone call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Foreign Minister Asaad Al Shibani expressed Syria's 'aspiration to co-operate with the United States to return to the 1974 disengagement agreement', the Syrian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. Israel violated the agreement when its troops entered the zone after the rebel forces toppled Syrian president Bashar Al Assad in December. Washington has been driving diplomatic efforts towards a normalisation deal between Syria and Israel, with US envoy Thomas Barrack saying last week that peace between the two was needed. Speaking to The New York Times, Mr Barrack confirmed this week that Syria and Israel were engaging in 'meaningful' US-brokered talks to end their conflict. Israel launched hundreds of air strikes on military targets in Syria and carried out incursions deeper into the country's south after the overthrow of Mr Al Assad, whose regime survived nearly 14 years of civil war with the help of Iranian and Iran-backed forces. Syria's new authorities refrained from responding to the Israeli attacks and admitted to holding indirect talks with Israel to reduce tensions. The two countries have no official diplomatic relations, with Syria not recognising Israel and the two nations technically at war since 1948. Israel conquered around two-thirds of the Golan Heights from Syria during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, before annexing it in 1981 in a move not recognised by any country other than the United States. A year after the 1973 war, the two reached an agreement on a disengagement line. As part of the deal, an 80km-long United Nations-patrolled buffer zone was created to the east of Israeli-occupied territory, separating it from the Syrian-controlled side. Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Monday that his country had an 'interest' in normalising ties with Syria and neighbouring Lebanon. He added, however, that the Golan Heights 'will remain part of the State of Israel' under any future peace agreement. Syrian state media reported on Wednesday that 'statements concerning signing a peace agreement with the Israeli occupation at this time are considered premature'. During the call with Mr Rubio, Mr Al Shibani received a formal invitation 'to visit Washington as soon as possible', the Syrian Foreign Ministry said on Friday. It said the two men also discussed Syrian President Ahmad Al Shara's participation in the upcoming UN General Assembly. Mr Al Shibani visited the UN headquarters in New York in April, where he raised Syria's new flag. He and Mr Rubio also talked about 'the Iranian threat in Syria', with Damascus expressing 'its growing concern over Iran's attempts to interfere in Syrian affairs, especially following the strikes that recently targeted Tehran', the Foreign Ministry said, referring to last month's Israel-Iran war.
