Violence against children caught in multiplying and escalating conflicts reached “extreme levels” in 2023, with an unprecedented number of killings and injuries in crises, from Israel and the Palestinian territories to Sudan, Myanmar and Ukraine, according to a new UN report.

The annual report on Children in Armed Conflict, obtained on Tuesday by The Associated Press, reported “a shocking 21 percent increase in grave violations” against children under the age of 18 in an array of conflicts, also citing Congo, Burkina Faso, Somalia and Syria.

For the first time, the UN report put Israeli forces on its blacklist of countries that violate children’s rights for the killing and maiming of children and attacking schools and hospitals. It listed Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants for the first time as well for killing, injuring and abducting children.

Hamas’ Oct. 7 surprise attack in southern Israel and Israel’s massive military retaliation in Gaza have led to a 155 percent increase in grave violations against children, especially from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas in Gaza, said the report by U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres.

The United Nations kept the Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups on its blacklist for a second year over their killing and maiming of children and attacking schools and hospitals in Ukraine.

The UN verified the killing of 80 Ukrainian children and maiming of 419 others by Russian forces and their affiliates last year, most from explosive weapons, the report said. Sudan, where war between rival generals vying for power has been raging since 2023, witnessed “a staggering 480 percent increase in grave violations against children, the report said.

The Sudanese Armed Forces and the rival paramilitary Rapid Support Forces went on the blacklist for killing and injuring youngsters and attacking schools and hospitals — and the paramilitary also for recruiting and using children in military operations and for rape and sexual violence.

By the end of 2023, secretary-general Guterres said the UN had verified 1,721 grave violations against 1,526 children. “I am appalled by the dramatic increase in grave violations,” he said, especially the recruitment, killing and maiming of children as well as sexual violence and attacks on schools and hospitals.