Nearly 70% of deaths in Gaza are women and children, says UN | Conflict in the Middle East

Women and children represent “nearly 70%” of deaths in the Gaza Strip during the period from November 2023 to April 2024, says the United Nations (UN) on Friday, after verification careful partial counting of victims of Israel’s war against Hamas.

The new report from the Office of the High CommissionerHIM Human Rights also details a wide range of violations of international law, which for many could amount to war crimes, crimes against humanity and perhaps even a genocide.

Report shows civilians in Gaza were hardest hit by attacks, particularly during “total siege” of narrow strip of territory by Israeli forcespointed out theHIM.

The behavior of Israeli forces has caused unprecedented levels of death, injury, starvation and diseasedenounces the report, which also condemns illegal and persistent breaches of the Israeli government to facilitate access to humanitarian aid, the destruction of civilian infrastructure and repeated mass displacements of the population.

Israel rejects report’s findings

The Israeli Embassy to theHIM in Geneva categorically rejected the report and its absurd conclusionsdenouncing the inherent obsession of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights with the demonization of Israel.

Ajith Sunghay, head of activities of the human rights office of theHIM in the Palestinian territories, spoke of a dystopia of destruction and devastation where survivors are injured, displaced and starved.

The report also denounces Hamas and other armed groups for committing widespread violations that could constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity, including hostage-taking, murder, torture and violence. sexual.

Crimes committed particularly in the context of the attack of October 7, 2023 on Israeli territory, which left 1,206 dead, mainly civilians, according to a count by Agence France-Presse (AFP) based on official Israeli figures. .

The report mainly addresses the controversial question of the proportion of civilians among the figure of nearly 43,500 people killed in Gaza provided by the Palestinian territory’s Ministry of Health.

Difficult verification of balance sheets

Lacking sufficient access, UN agencies rely on death tolls provided by the Gaza authorities, controlled by Hamas. This provokes strong criticism from Israel, but the UN and many countries consider these reports reliable.

Of approximately 10,000 verified cases for a total of 34,500 people killed between November 2023 and April 2024, we have so far found that almost 70% are children and womensaid Mr. Sunghay, highlighting the OHCHR’s rigorous verification methodology, which requires at least three separate sources.

We believe this is representative of the distribution of the total number of deaths. A proportion similar to that given by the Gaza authoritiessaid Ravina Shamdasani, spokeswoman for the High Commissioner, to AFP.

Among the verified deaths, 4,700 concerned children, and 2,461 concerned women.

This unprecedented level of civilian deaths and injuries is a direct consequence of failure to respect the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.accused the High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, in a press release.

Tragically, these documented violations continue unabated, more than a year after the start of the warhe added.

Israel has insisted that its operations in Gaza target Hamas fighters. But the report released Friday emphasizes that the verified deaths largely reflect the demographic makeup of Gaza’s general population, rather than that of the fighters.

The Israeli army, for its part, said it was committed to respecting international legal obligations and operating within the laws of armed conflict and assured that he would strive to minimize harm to non-combatants before attacks, particularly women and children.

Each military action is carried out in accordance with the principles of differentiation and proportionality, and is preceded by a careful assessment of the risk of civilian harmshe said.