UN: Women and children account for nearly 70 Percent of Gaza's fatalities

A Palestinian woman who lost her leg when her family home was hit in an Israeli strike in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, is carried down a ladder on November 7, 2024 [AFP]

In total, children made up 44% of the victims; the oldest was a 97-year-old woman, and the youngest was a day-old boy.

After a recent report from his organization revealed that women and children accounted for roughly 70% of confirmed killings in Gaza, UN human rights chief Volker Turk denounced Israel's "apparent indifference" to the killing of civilians.

After verifying that 8,119 of the over 34,500 people who were allegedly killed during the first six months of Israel's war in Gaza were women and children, the youngest of whom was only one day old, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released the report on Friday.

The "rules of war … designed to limit and prevent human suffering in times of armed conflict" were criticized by Turk as being disregarded by Israel. Taking note of Israel's recent siege of northern Gaza and its decision to cut off relations with the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), he called on the country to fulfill its international commitments.

According to the report, attacks on civilians that are "widespread or systematic" may qualify as "crimes against humanity."

"And they may also constitute genocide if they are committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial, or religious group," the statement read.

The Palestinian claim that women and children make up a significant percentage of those murdered in the conflict is supported by the UN's breakdown of the victims' ages and genders.

Children made up 44% of the casualties overall, with the largest group being between the ages of 5 and 9, followed by those between the ages of 10 and 14, and finally those under the age of four.

A 97-year-old woman was the oldest victim, and a one-day-old boy was the youngest.

It revealed that five or more individuals were killed in a single attack in 88% of cases, indicating that the Israeli military's use of munitions affected large areas in places with a high population density.

The investigation also suggested that some of the deaths might have been caused by Palestinian armed groups' misdirected rockets failing to reach their targets.

It also cited "repeated mass displacement, the destruction of civilian infrastructure, and the Israeli government's ongoing unlawful failures to allow, facilitate, and ensure the entry of humanitarian aid."

It went on to say, "This behavior by Israeli forces has resulted in previously unheard-of levels of killings, death, injury, starvation, illness, and disease."

Israel's diplomatic office in Geneva responded to the conclusions on Friday by saying it "categorically rejects" the report and accusing the UN of depending on "unverified information."

Since October 7, 2023, Israel's war on Gaza has killed at least 43,469 Palestinians and injured 102,561, according to the Ministry of Health in the enclave.

source: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/8/nearly-70-percent-of-deaths-in-gaza-are-women-and-children-un