The report presented by the UN Secretary-General on the subject describes the state of protection of civilians in 2023 as "extremely bleak". 

The conflict in the Occupied Palestinian Territory was notably the deadliest, resulting in 21,672 Palestinian fatalities and 56,165 injuries, mostly women and children, according to the UN.

These figures were highlighted today during the annual UN Security Council debate on the protection of civilians, with Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Joyce Msuya highlighting the intense Israeli military response in Gaza following the Hamas attack, which resulted in "death, destruction and suffering on a scale and at a rate unseen in recent memory".

"Some 75 percent of the population of Gaza was forcibly displaced. A man-made famine looms. Thousands of children were killed and injured in what UNICEF colleagues have called a 'war on children'", she said, also recalling the hostages still held by the Islamist movement Hamas.

Although the United Nations has recorded the deaths of more than 33,000 civilians in armed conflicts last year, the UN representative stressed that the real numbers are probably higher, with the use of explosives in populated areas having devastating impacts on civilian populations in numerous conflicts.

"Across all conflicts, civilians accounted for 90 per cent of those killed and injured when explosive weapons were used in populated areas", she stressed.

Among the conflicts that have increased the number of civilian casualties, Joyce Msuya mentioned those in Gaza, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Myanmar, Nigeria, the Sahel region, Somalia, Syria or Ukraine.

In Sudan, for example, the conflict between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces resulted in approximately 12,260 deaths and 33,000 injuries, with widespread reports of sexual violence.

Civilians have also been severely affected by widespread damage and destruction of critical infrastructure, which has disrupted the provision of electricity, water and health care to millions of people.

In addition, more than 2,300 incidents of violence and other forms of interference against medical workers, facilities, equipment, transport and patients were recorded in 21 conflicts, Msuya said.

"In 14 conflicts in 2023, not including the Occupied Palestinian Territory, 91 aid workers were tragically killed, 120 injured and 53 kidnapped. In Gaza alone, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) lost 142 staff in the violence between October and December", she recalled.

The conflict was also the main driver of the alarmingly high levels of hunger. In 19 conflict-affected countries or territories, 117 million people experienced crisis levels of acute food insecurity or worse, according to the UN.

Joyce Msuya took advantage of the strong diplomatic presence at today's meeting to warn "that the Council's resolutions on the protection of civilians over the past 25 years remain largely unheeded".

"The harm and suffering inflicted on civilians in 2023 signal an alarming failure to uphold international humanitarian law and international human rights law. (...) We must redouble our efforts to strengthen compliance with these obligations by parties to conflict", she appealed.

The Under-Secretary-General also called for increased accountability for such violations, including "upholding the independence and impartiality of the International Criminal Court (ICC)".

The UN representative's appeals come a day after the ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan, announced that he had requested arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for crimes such as "wilful starvation of civilians", "wilful killing" and "extermination and/or murder" related to the Israeli operation in Gaza.

The ICC prosecutor also requested arrest warrants for three senior Hamas officials - Ismail Haniyeh, Mohammed Deif and Yahya Sinouar - for "extermination", "rape and other forms of sexual violence" and "hostage-taking as a war crime", related to the Islamist movement's attack on Israel on 7 October.

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