UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that groups of Israeli settlers could be added to the United Nations blacklist of parties committing violations against children, expressing concern over a sharp rise in reported attacks on Palestinian minors.
The warning comes in the UN’s annual report on Children and Armed Conflict, which recorded 38,558 serious violations worldwide in 2025 affecting 24,174 children, the highest figure since monitoring began in 1996.
According to the report, 14,224 children were killed or maimed last year, with child fatalities rising by 34% compared with 2024.
The United Nations verified the deaths of 2,668 Palestinian children in Gaza and 57 in the occupied West Bank during the reporting period.
Guterres said he was “deeply alarmed” by what he described as a dramatic increase in attacks by Israeli settlers resulting in serious violations against Palestinian children.
He warned that Israeli settler groups could be included on the blacklist if the high number of violations continues into 2026.
The report attributes 9,465 violations to Israeli forces and 326 to Israeli settlers.
Grave violations under UN criteria include the killing and maiming of children, sexual violence, abductions and attacks on schools and hospitals.
Countries with the highest levels of violations in 2025 included the Occupied Palestinian Territories and Israel, as well as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, Myanmar and Somalia.
At the same time, the armed wing of Hamas and affiliated groups remain on the UN blacklist, with the report attributing 2,806 violations to Palestinian armed groups.
The latest report comes weeks after tensions between the UN and Israel escalated, following the inclusion of Israel on another UN list related to allegations of sexual violence in conflict zones.
Israel’s UN mission has not yet commented on the latest report.
