Nearly 70 per cent of the people killed in the war in Gaza are women and children, according to a UN analysis of verified deaths that highlights the heavy civilian toll of the conflict. The UN human rights office verified 8,119 fatalities during the first six months of the war, with 3,588 children and 2,036 women among the dead.
The youngest victim was a one-day-old boy and the oldest a 97-year-old woman. The number is lower than the 43,000 deaths reported by Palestinian health authorities for the 13-month conflict, but backs the assertion that women and children represent a large proportion of those killed. Children aged five to nine were the single biggest age category, followed by those aged 10-14 and then those up to four.
Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said people had been pushed “beyond breaking point” with families enduring “almost unparalleled suffering”. The UN said the figures indicated “a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law”.
Of the verified deaths, 7,607 occurred in residential buildings or similar housing, with 44 per cent children, 26 per cent women and 30 per cent men. Many families were killed together: the UN verified 484 families that lost between five and more than 30 members. The Al Najjar family had 138 members killed, including 35 women and 62 children, and the Al Astal family lost 94 members, including 33 women and 45 children.
Israel’s diplomatic mission in Geneva rejected the report, accusing the UN of failing to reflect realities on the ground and disregarding Hamas’s role in causing civilian harm. The Israeli military says it takes care to avoid harming civilians in Gaza. The report also noted that Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups had attacked civilians, committed sexual violence, and taken hostages, acts that could amount to war crimes.
