A new War Watch report by the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights warns that international humanitarian law (IHL) is under unprecedented strain. Surveying 23 armed conflicts from July 2024 to December 2025, the study highlights over 100,000 civilian deaths annually, widespread torture, and sexual violence.
In Gaza the total population “fell by about 254,000 people, a 10.6% decline compared with pre-conflict estimates”, the research notes. Although a ceasefire was agreed in October 2025, hundreds more Palestinians have been killed in fighting since. In Ukraine, More civilians “were killed in 2025 than in the two previous years” – a recorded total of 2,514 – which War Watch notes was a 70% increase on the number killed in 2023. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Sudan, sexual and gender-based violence affected victims from infants to the elderly.
Lead author Stuart Casey-Maslen warned that “atrocity crimes are being repeated because past ones were tolerated.” The report urges stricter arms controls, bans on unguided weapons in populated areas, and stronger prosecutions of war crimes via the ICC and national tribunals.
ℹ️ The Guardian
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