UN report reveals 70 percent of war casualties in Gaza are women and children

A recent UN report analyzing 8,119 casualties from the first six months of the war indicates that 70 percent of the victims were women and children. The UN panel, FRC, warned that the threshold for famine in northern Gaza “may have already been crossed, or will be in the near future.” Jan Egeland, Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), stated that “mass death is imminent” in northern Gaza.

The conflict between Israel and Hamas continues as Qatar suspends its mediating role in ceasefire negotiations. The US has demanded that 350 trucks daily be allowed into Gaza carrying food and supplies. However, only 57 trucks were reportedly permitted in October, according to Israel, with the UN claiming the number was as low as 37.

In central Gaza, UNICEF spokesperson Rosalia Bollen described the dire situation for civilians. She highlighted a vicious cycle where shortages of food, medicine, and necessities lead to further illness. The lack of nutritious food causes premature births, and malnutrition affects mothers’ ability to produce breast milk. “When people hear that no place in Gaza is safe, they think of bombings, but that’s just one aspect. Gaza is unsafe for children on many levels,” she noted.

During her visit to an overcrowded children’s ward at a hospital in Khan Younis, Bollen encountered patients suffering from severe conditions, including a ten-month-old with cystic fibrosis and an eleven-year-old with leukemia whose treatment was interrupted by the ongoing war. Parents were desperate for medicine and children inquired about their beds and school resumption, with one girl asking, “When will the war end?” Bollen reflected on how the situation in Gaza seems to worsen by the day.