International Report: Israeli Army Responsible for Half of Explosive Weapon Victims Worldwide in 2025

The Explosive Weapons Monitor released its comprehensive annual report for 2025, revealing a heavy toll of bloodshed due to the use of lethal weapons in armed conflicts around the world. The report confirmed that the Israeli army topped the list of entities causing civilian casualties, with more than half of the globally recorded deaths resulting from the use of explosive weapons attributed to it, especially in light of the ongoing aggression on the Gaza Strip.

According to documented statistics collected by the Monitor, which includes a coalition of dozens of international non-governmental organizations, at least 22,600 civilians were killed or injured in 65 countries during the monitored year. The causes of these injuries varied between aerial bombardment, drone attacks, and the explosion of internationally prohibited anti-personnel mines and cluster bombs.

The report stressed that Israeli forces bear direct responsibility for 56% of all civilian deaths worldwide, a record figure reflecting the scale of violence practiced in the Palestinian territories. Researchers noted that despite the announcement of a ceasefire on October 10, 2025, the Gaza Strip remained a scene of almost daily Israeli raids, leading to continued bloodshed.

In a related context, the report reviewed shocking data on the targeting of children, citing reports from 'Save the Children' which confirmed the killing of approximately 20,000 children in Gaza since the war began in October 2023. The Monitor explained that the occupation army developed its killing tools through the use of modern and destructive technologies, including booby-trapped and killer robots that targeted densely populated residential areas.

The violations were not limited to traditional bombing; the report also observed a massive leap in the use of drones to target shelters, with attacks on displacement camps in Gaza and the West Bank increasing by about fivefold. The number of these incidents rose from 64 incidents in 2024 to 303 documented incidents in 2025, reflecting a systematic approach to terrorizing civilians fleeing death.

Globally, the report indicated that countries such as Ukraine, Myanmar, Syria, and Sudan also experienced devastating human losses, with government forces in those areas responsible for 85% of incidents harming civilians. In Ukraine, in particular, drone attacks on educational institutions saw a sharp increase of over 350% during the same year.

The Monitor warned that the announced figures represent the confirmed minimum, suggesting that the actual toll is likely much higher due to the difficulty of field documentation in active conflict zones. It also drew attention to the 'silent death' resulting from the indirect consequences of infrastructure destruction, such as hospitals ceasing to operate and the collapse of water and sanitation networks due to systematic bombardment.

For its part, human rights sources from 'Handicap International' stated that the deliberate use of explosives in populated areas aims to deprive residents of basic necessities of life. The sources explained that the destruction of schools, hospitals, and humanitarian aid convoys is occurring at increasing and unprecedented rates, constituting a blatant violation of international humanitarian law and conventions for the protection of civilians.

The report concluded by noting a worrying increase in attacks on the relief sector, with assaults on humanitarian aid operations rising by 52% to over 2,500 incidents. Educational institutions, including schools and universities, also recorded 1,416 attacks, an increase of 64% over the previous year, threatening a complete collapse of service systems in conflict-affected areas.

The use of explosive weapons in populated areas systematically deprives civilians of essential services, as schools and hospitals are destroyed at increasing rates.