UN: Israel killed 47 women in Gaza every day during the war

The United Nations revealed that more than 38,000 women and girls were killed in the Gaza Strip between October 2023 and the end of 2025, constituting more than half of the number of martyrs counted by the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip during the Israeli war of annihilation.

UN Women spokeswoman Sophia Caltrop told reporters in Geneva on Friday (April 17th), confirming that all of them were victims of Israeli airstrikes and ground military operations, stating that "more than 22,000 women and 16,000 girls, meaning that the average was at least 47 women and girls killed daily."

"Women and girls represent a significantly higher proportion of deaths, compared to previous conflicts in Gaza," Caltrop said, adding that they "continue to suffer greatly despite the declaration of a ceasefire in October 2025."

"Some 11,000 women and girls were so badly injured that they survived with permanent disabilities," she said.

The spokeswoman explained that the past six months have seen more than 730 people killed and more than 2,000 injured, and said: "We know that women and girls are among the victims, but data disaggregated by sex and age is not sufficiently available."

Caltrop urged that women and girls, who are the most vulnerable, be placed "at the centre of the humanitarian response" given forced displacement and limited access to water, food, health care and humanitarian assistance.

Statistics show that nearly one million women and girls have been displaced several times during the war, while some 790,000 face severe or even catastrophic food insecurity, according to UN Women.

The total number of martyrs in Gaza has reached more than 72,000 since the start of the Israeli war of annihilation in October 2023, according to the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip.

In December 2023, South Africa filed a lawsuit before the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, and in January 2024, the court urged Israel to make all possible efforts to "avoid" genocide during its military operations in the Gaza Strip, including the provision of urgent humanitarian assistance.