Explosive Weapons Caused Record Child Deaths in 2024

Explosive weapons killed or injured children at unprecedented levels last year as conflicts increasingly shifted into densely populated urban areas, a new report has found.

Nearly 12,000 children were killed or wounded in conflicts worldwide in 2024, according to UN data cited in the report. This is the highest figure recorded since monitoring began in 2006 and represents a 42 percent increase compared with 2020.

In earlier conflicts, children were more likely to die from malnutrition, disease or collapsing health systems. But as wars in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine move deeper into towns and cities, young people are now more frequently caught in strikes on hospitals, schools and residential areas.

More than 70 percent of child casualties in 2024 were caused by explosive weapons—including missiles, drones and grenades—up from an average of around 59 percent between 2020 and 2024.

“The world is witnessing the deliberate destruction of childhood, and the evidence is undeniable,” said Narmina Strishenets, a senior conflict and humanitarian advocacy advisor. “Children are paying the highest price in today’s wars. Missiles are falling where they sleep, play and learn, turning homes and schools into deadly traps.”

Experts warn that children’s smaller bodies and developing organs leave them especially vulnerable to blast injuries, leading to more severe wounds and longer recovery times.

“Children are far more vulnerable to explosive weapons than adults,” said Paul Reavley, a paediatric emergency physician and co-founder of the Paediatric Blast Injury Partnership. “Their anatomy, physiology, behaviour and psychosocial needs make them disproportionately affected.”

The conflicts that caused the highest child casualties in 2024 were in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, Sudan, Myanmar, Ukraine and Syria.

Gaza remains the deadliest conflict for children in recent years, with an estimated 20,000 children killed since Israel launched its military campaign following the Hamas attack in October 2023, the report said.