In more than a third of countries worldwide, civilians are victims of explosive weapons

The annual report of the Explosive Weapons Monitor reveals that civilians in 74 countries are affected by bombing and shelling. Civilian casualties and the destruction of civilian infrastructure are increasing as armed conflicts and geopolitical tensions rise, at the expense of international humanitarian law.

People standing in front of ruined houses

Destructions in Aleppo City center, Syria, February 2025 | © HI

60% of civilian deaths recorded in Palestine

The Explosive Weapons Monitor 2024 reports that civilians were affected by explosive violence in at least 74 countries and territories. Civilians in 11 countries – Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Mali, Myanmar, Nigeria, Palestine, Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and Yemen – were considered as severely impacted.

Palestine represented more than 60% of all civilian fatalities reported across the globe in 2024.*

Civilian deaths from explosive weapons in countries and territories other than Palestine increased by more than 60% in 2024, notably in Lebanon, Myanmar, Syria and Ukraine.

In 2024, civilian infrastructure was severely impacted: Attacks on healthcare, including health facilities and ambulances, increased by 64% (1,857 incidents), attacks on education (schools, etc.) more than doubled (861 incidents in 2024) and attacks on humanitarian aid occurred nearly five times more frequently than in 2023 (1,631 incidents).

*There is no raw figure of civilian casualties in the Monitor 2024 report. Last December, the Monitor reported 67,057 civilian casualties from explosive weapons in 2024, a figure that is certainly underestimated.

“Eighty-three states have endorsed the 2022 Political Declaration on the use of explosive weapons in populated areas—the first formal international recognition that bombing and shelling in towns and cities cause devastating humanitarian consequences. Three years on, States must show how they have translated this instrument into concrete actions to protect civilians from bombing and shelling. They have a responsibility to speak out vigorously and consistently against the ongoing use of explosive weapons in populated areas—from Gaza and Sudan to Ukraine and beyond."

Alma Taslidžan - Disarmament and Protection of Civilians

Read the testimonial in Ukraine: “Since I was amputated, I feel like I’m locked in a prison”

Civilians at the mercy of armed conflict

According to the International Committee of the Red Cross, there were 120 ongoing armed conflicts in 2024. Civilians have been hit hard by their consequences:

Nearly 200,000 people died as a result of armed violence in one year (Armed Conflict Survey 2024).

Violent deaths increased by 37% in 2023-2024

Hundreds of thousands of civilians injured, maimed or traumatized by armed violence.

According UNHCR, more than 120 million people are forcibly displaced, largely as a result of conflict.

All the indicators are red: Bombings in populated areas, indiscriminate drone attacks, and the reintroduction of banned weapons, such as anti-personnel mines and cluster bombs, into military arsenals. The very obligation on the part of belligerents to “protect civilians” seems to be collapsing. In Gaza alone, the Israeli Defense Forces stated that 40,300 targets were hit between October 2023 and October 2024, leaving no chance for the civilian population, which for the vast majority, lives in densely populated areas. 53,000 people in Gaza were killed, almost 2 million were displaced.

Read the testimonial in Gaza: Heba: A humanitarian worker during war

“With the increasing attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure in 2024, we observe a serious weakening of the principle of civilian protection. This principle states that civilians should be spared and protected from the effects of armed conflict. What we are witnessing is that parties to conflict simply do not care — they carry out indiscriminate attacks, and civilians are even increasingly being directly targeted. In some context, prolonged sieges are no longer aimed solely at winning battles, but at terrorizing, injuring and killing populations.”

Anne Héry , HI Advocacy Director

The return of forbidden weapons

In that context marked by the vanishing of strong universal values and agreements like the international humanitarian law and protection of civilian norms, the return of anti-personnel mines and cluster bombs, and the withdrawal of several states from treaties banning these indiscriminate weapons add a new danger for the populations.

Russia massively used antipersonnel mines since it started its full invasion of Ukraine in 2022 while there are strong indications that Ukraine also used antipersonnel mines.

Poland, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia are withdrawing from the Ottawa Treaty, which bans antipersonnel mines, and are considering deploying them at their borders. Lithuania has already withdrawn from the Oslo Treaty, which bans cluster munitions.

We call states to:

Unambiguously reaffirm the fundamental principle of the protection of civilians

Strengthen international humanitarian law

Put an end to the use of prohibited weapons.

What is international humanitarian law?

Born of the horrors inflicted on civilian populations during the global conflicts of the 20th century, International Humanitarian Law, or the Law of War, was intended as a bulwark against human folly.

The Geneva Conventions of 1949, particularly the Fourth, clearly define that civilians - women, children, the elderly and the wounded - must be protected in all circumstances. The United Nations Charter, which came into force exactly 80 years ago, established peace and security as the foundations of world order. Today, all these principles are faltering. While the memory of yesterday's crimes seems to be fading, the foundations of our humanity are shaking under the indiscriminate crash of bombs.