Israeli attacks caused 55% of global civilian deaths, injuries in 2024
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A study reports that 61,353 civilians were killed or wounded in 2024, marking a 67% increase compared to the previous year.
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Destroyed buildings are seen inside the Gaza Strip from southern occupied Palestine, on January 13, 2025. (AP)
An annual study revealed that civilian casualties from bombing or other explosive violence have reached their highest global levels in over a decade, driven by intense bombings in Gaza and Lebanon and the ongoing war in Ukraine.
The monitoring group "Action on Armed Violence" (AOAV) reported that 61,353 civilians were killed or injured in 2024, a 67% increase from the previous year. This is the highest toll recorded since the group started its surveys in 2010.
Israeli attacks accounted for 55% of the total civilian deaths and injuries recorded in 2024, making them the leading cause, while Russian attacks in Ukraine ranked second, responsible for 19% of the casualties, according to reports.
The research also highlighted significant conflicts in Sudan and Myanmar, which together accounted for 8% of the total casualties.
The AOAV bases its statistics on English-language reports of explosive violence worldwide, which likely underreport the true number of civilian casualties due to the limitations of media coverage in a single language.
The number of civilians reported killed worldwide rose by 51%, while injuries increased by 81%. Additionally, the study observed a 26% rise in deadly and severe incidents.
The higher totals for 2024 reflect the simultaneous major wars involving "Israel" and the ongoing war in Ukraine with a 36% difference.
Gaza was the most affected region, making up 39% of the total casualties reported, followed by Ukraine and Lebanon. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, over 23,600 people were killed in Gaza in 2024, indicating that media reports likely understate the true toll.
Gaza war 'most destructive, fatal conflict' in 21st century
In December last year, a UK-based war monitor labeled "Israel's" assault against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since October of last year as the "most destructive and fatal conflict" in recent history.
According to an Airwars report, "By almost every metric, the harm to civilians from the first month of the Israeli campaign in Gaza is incomparable with any 21st-century air campaign."
The war "Israel" has waged on Gaza "is by far the most intense, destructive, and fatal conflict for civilians that Airwars has ever documented."
According to the London, UK-based not-for-profit company, at least 5,139 civilians were killed in Gaza in 25 days in October of 2023, which is "nearly four times more civilians reported killed in a single month than in any conflict" the firm has documented since its inception in 2014.
In October 2023 alone, Airwars reported at least 65 instances in which at least 20 civilians were killed, significantly tripling the amount of such high-fatality episodes documented by Airwars in any similar time period.
Over 25 days, Airwars said at least 1,900 children were killed by Israeli military action in Gaza, which is roughly seven times greater than the tracking firm's previous deadliest month for children.
The not-for-profit highlighted how Palestinian families were killed in record numbers, including in their homes. "More than nine out of ten women and children were killed in residential buildings. In more than 95 percent of all cases where a woman was killed, at least one child was also killed."
