NEW YORK CITY: The UN Security Council convened on Wednesday to address what officials described as an unprecedented surge in grave violations against children during armed conflicts around the world.

It followed the publication of a devastating annual report by the secretary-general’s special representative for children and armed conflict, Virginia Gamba. It documented 41,370 grave violations during 2024, a 25 percent increase compared with the previous year, and the highest number since the UN’s Monitoring and Reporting Mechanism was established in 2005.

Verified abuses of children spanned 25 countries and included killings, maiming, recruitment, abductions, sexual violence, attacks on schools and hospitals, and denial of access to humanitarian assistance.

“This year marked a devastating new record,” Gamba told council members. “Behind these numbers are the shattered stories, dreams and futures of over 22,000 children.”

She cited a sharp increase in “compounded violations,” in which children were abducted, recruited and sexually abused, often simultaneously, in the context of deteriorating humanitarian crises.

Israel was responsible for the highest number of violations by a single country against children in 2024, the report found. Gamba’s office was able to verify more than 2,000 children killed or maimed; more than 500 attacks on schools and 148 on hospitals; and over 5,000 incidents in which humanitarian access was denied, including 2,263 in Gaza alone.

Algeria’s ambassador to the UN, Amar Bendjama, delivered a pointed rebuke of what he described as “insufficient public engagement” by the special representative’s office, noting that Gamba had made only two public statements on Gaza during 2024, despite the staggering toll of the conflict there on children.

“How can we ignore the 7,188 verified grave violations attributed to Israeli forces?” Bendjama asked. “This is a man-made crisis … The children of Gaza deserve immediate, effective protection and accountability for those perpetrating these abhorrent violations.”

He also underscored the fact that the statistics in the report reflected only verified violations and added: “For sure, the reality is far worse.

“The (special representative’s) statements fall critically short of the decisive and sustained condemnation warranted by the immense scale of the crisis. This limited public engagement starkly contrasts with the rapidly deteriorating reality on the ground, where children’s right to life is denied every single moment in Gaza.”

He then presented to council members the numbers of incidents reported by international humanitarian organizations, including UNICEF, which is operating on the ground in Gaza and has reported more than 50,000 children killed or injured since the war between Israel and Hamas began in late 2023.

As of May this year, 5,000 children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years old had been diagnosed with acute malnutrition, he said, nearly double the total number reported the previous month. About half of the 1.9 million people internally displaced within Gaza are children, who are living amid the widespread destruction of water, sanitation and healthcare infrastructure.

“How can we ignore these figures? How can we ignore these children?” Bendjama asked.

Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said that Guterres fully supports Gamba’s work, adding: “The report is done under a very specific methodology of verification, and we are very clear in the report that this is the tip of the iceberg.

“(Gamba’s) report is done according to a methodology which is given to her through her mandate by the Security Council, which is extremely specific. And I think the report itself is extremely clear in saying these are only the cases they have been able to verify in what is an ongoing conflict, and also being very clear by the fact that this only represents, very likely, a fraction of the children who’ve been killed or maimed.”

Asked by Arab News about the value of a report when the monitoring system on which it is based is admittedly very flawed, and whether it might be time to update the mechanisms, Dujarric said: “I will leave it to the wisdom of the Security Council members to decide whether or not to change the mandate they have given the secretary-general in creating that office many years ago.

“I think we’ve all said that the system could be perfected. At minimum, it ensures that the plight of children who are suffering on the front lines of armed conflict is not forgotten.”

Dorothy Shea, the US charge d’affaires to the UN, defended Israel over its military operations in Gaza and placed the blame for the ongoing conflict squarely on Hamas. She emphasized Israel’s right to self-defense, and told fellow council members that the country had “taken numerous measures to limit harm to civilians and address humanitarian needs.”

She added: “The loss of civilian life in Gaza is tragic. But the responsibility for this conflict rests with Hamas, which could stop the fighting today by freeing the hostages and agreeing to the ceasefire terms already accepted by Israel.”

Shea cited the attacks by Hamas against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, that killed 1,200 people, including 40 children, and in particular highlighted the deaths of Ariel and Kfir Bibas, Israeli siblings who were 4 years old and 9 months old, respectively.

“Hamas murdered the Bibas children and then paraded their coffins through the streets,” she said. “This terrorist organization continues to use civilians, including children, as human shields and refuses to accept a ceasefire that would bring calm to Gaza.”

Shea also accused Hamas of obstructing deliveries of aid and targeting humanitarian workers. “On June 11, Hamas murdered eight innocent Palestinians working on behalf of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation,” she told the council.

The US envoy expressed disappointment that the latest report did not sufficiently highlight what she described as the “full scale” of abuses by Hamas and added: “We strongly condemn Hamas’ actions.”

UNICEF’s director of child protection, Sheema Sen Gupta, told council members that “the world is failing to protect children from the horrors of war.”

In 2024, more than 11,900 children were killed or maimed worldwide, she said, with explosive weapons in populated areas cited as the leading cause of deaths and injuries. She described this as a “systemic failure,” and the use of such weapons as “a death sentence waiting to be triggered.”

Sen Gupta also highlighted a 35 percent increase in sexual violence against children, a form of abuse that remains severely underreported because of stigma and fear.

“These are not just grave violations in technical terms,” she said. “These are acts of brutality that destroy lives.”

Conflict zones such as Somalia, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Haiti were highlighted as major hot spots for violations of children’s rights.

In Congo alone, nearly 10,000 rapes were reported in the first two months of 2025, 40 percent of which involved children. In Haiti, where gangs control vast areas, there has been a dramatic surge in gang rapes and child abductions.

Both Gamba and Sen Gupta emphasized the fact that many of the violations stem from the deliberate targeting of civilians, disregard for ceasefire agreements, and the systematic undermining of humanitarian access. The secretary-general’s report also underscored the continuing sense of impunity that perpetrators enjoy.

However, the officials pointed to some progress. In 2024, for example, more than 16,000 children formerly associated with military forces and other armed groups were released and received reintegration support.

Agreements were also reached with armed forces in Syria, Colombia, the Central African Republic and Haiti, with commitments made to end the recruitment of children and protect civilian infrastructure.

“These examples remind us that where there is political will, progress is possible,” said Sen Gupta.

The UN officials called for urgent measures to address the problems, including: an end to the use of explosive weapons in populated areas; protection of aid workers and humanitarian access; engagement with nonstate armed groups to implement action plans; funding for reintegration and mental health services to help affected children; and the enforcement of international humanitarian law and accountability for violators.

Gamba urged all states to ensure that any political, financial or military support provided to parties involved in conflicts comes with explicit conditions regarding the protection of children.

“Children are not soldiers, they are not collateral damage, they are not bargaining chips,” Sen Gupta said. “They are children and they deserve justice, safety and a future.”