VIOLENCE against children caught in conflicts reached “unprecedented levels" last year, according to a United Nations report released late on Thursday.

The number was raised particularly by increased violations in Gaza and the West Bank, Congo, Somalia, Nigeria and Haiti.

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres’s Children in Armed Conflict report detailed “a staggering 25 per cent surge in grave violations” against under-18s compared to 2023 — itself 21 per cent higher than in 2022.

Mr Guterres said that in 2024: “Children bore the brunt of relentless hostilities and indiscriminate attacks and were affected by the disregard for ceasefires and peace agreements — and by deepening humanitarian crises.”

He cited warfare strategies that included attacks on children, the deployment of increasingly destructive and explosive weapons in populated areas and “the systematic exploitation of children for combat.”

Mr Guterres said the UN verified 41,370 grave violations against children — 36,221 committed in 2024 and 5,149 committed earlier, but which were verified last year.

These included killing, maiming, recruiting and abducting children, sexual violence against them, attacks on schools and hospitals and denial of access to humanitarian aid.

The UN kept Israeli forces on its blacklist of countries that violate children’s rights for a second year, citing 7,188 verified grave violations by its military, including the killing of 1,259 Palestinian children and injuries to 941 others in Gaza.

The Gaza Health Ministry has reported much higher figures, but the UN has strict criteria and said its process of verification is ongoing.

Mr Guterres said he was “appalled by the intensity of grave violations against children in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel” and “deeply alarmed” by the increase in violations, especially the high number of children killed by Israeli forces.

The UN also kept Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad on the blacklist.

In Congo, the UN reported 4,043 verified grave violations against 3,418 children last year. In Somalia, it reported 2,568 violations against 1,992 children. In Nigeria, 2,436 grave violations were reported against 1,037 children. And in Haiti, the UN reported 2,269 verified grave violations against 1,373 children.

In the ongoing war following Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, the United Nations kept the Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups on its blacklist for a third year.