THE LATEST United Nations (UN) report on the thousands of children killed, maimed, violated and abused in conflict areas worldwide was released last week.
If we don’t tell the truth about these violations and act on them, these serious crimes will continue to be committed and go unpunished. As Jesus of Nazareth once said, “the truth will set you free.”
Indeed, we need to be freed from the denial and cover-up of these crimes, which the UN report says is being committed every day.
Among all of creation, it is only us humans, endowed with intelligence and knowledge, who abuse and violate children, or allow this to happen. This is due to shame, apathy, lack of compassion, and the reluctance of authorities to enforce the rule of law to protect abused children. All this despite — or, perhaps, because of — the widening spread of knowledge through modern communication.
Despite the progress in human development and education in the past 50 years, the UN report says a record number of children endured violence in armed conflict in 2025, and it is increasing today as more of them are killed in Palestine and Lebanon daily.
Verified UN information records show that 38,558 grave violations were committed against children last year alone.
“A total of 24,174 children were directly affected and their rights violated, with 3,176 of them subjected to multiple violations, including killing and maiming, recruitment and sexual abuse, abduction, rape and other forms of sexual violence, attacks on schools and hospitals, and the denial of humanitarian access. A third of the victims were girls. Children are stripped bare of their rights, safety, and dignity to which every child is entitled,” the report says.
In addition, more than 50,000 children were killed or injured in the Gaza Strip alone, while hundreds more were killed and thousands wounded across the West Bank and Lebanon by Israel’s military and its bombardments in recent years.
UN agencies like the UN Children’s Fund (Unicef) and the World Health Organization say virtually all children in these conflict zones — over 1.5 million minors — have suffered severe and long-lasting psychological trauma.
In the occupied Palestinian territories, Israeli bombings yielded the highest volume of total abuses by a massive margin. Some 12,445 violations have been recorded, with Israeli armed forces responsible for 9,465 of these.
The Palestinian Ministry of Health reports, as verified by UN agencies, that over 21,000 children have been killed. This includes more than 1,000 who were not yet a year old. Thousands more remain missing and are presumed dead under the rubble.
More than 42,000 children have been injured. The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities reported that at least 21,000 children were left with permanent disabilities; as much as 4,000 of them had their limbs amputated.
Utter disregard
All this occurred with utter disregard for international law and violating the special protection afforded to children.
The highest levels of violations against children in 2025 were in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Myanmar and Somalia. The wanton killing of 6,266 children and maiming of 7,958 others in these countries are verified violations of their right to life.
There has been a shocking 34 percent increase in the killing of children compared to those in 2024.
Multiple high-ranking Israeli government officials, including ministers and lawmakers, have made public statements that human rights organizations, UN experts, and South Africa’s legal team at the International Court of Justice have cited as dehumanizing to Palestinians. The Israeli statements are advocating for the elimination, displacement or collective punishment of all Palestinians. (To be continued)/PN
