An estimated average of 47 women and girls were tragically killed daily during the conflict in Gaza, as reported by UN Women on Friday. The agency cautioned that despite a fragile ceasefire in place for six months, the fatalities have persisted.
Between October 2023 and December 2025, over 38,000 women and girls lost their lives in Gaza, as revealed in the UN Women report focusing on gender equality. Sofia Calltorp, head of humanitarian action at the agency, emphasized that the proportion of female casualties surpassed previous conflicts in Gaza, emphasizing that each victim had their own aspirations and existence.
Concerns were raised by the agency regarding the ongoing deaths of women and girls following the ceasefire in October, with the precise toll unknown due to the absence of gender-specific data. Although the ceasefire ended two years of intense warfare, Israeli forces maintained control over a significant portion of Gaza, leaving Hamas in power over the remaining coastal area.
As per local medics, over 750 Palestinians have been killed post-ceasefire, with four Israeli soldiers also losing their lives at the hands of militants. Both Israel and Hamas have blamed each other for breaches in the ceasefire, with Israel stating its goal of preventing attacks by Hamas and other militant groups.
Meanwhile, UNICEF disclosed that children in Gaza continued to suffer alarming rates of death and injury, with 214 children reported dead in the last six months. UN Women highlighted that approximately one million women and girls in Gaza are displaced, facing challenges in accessing essential services like healthcare due to widespread infrastructure damage.
The World Health Organization data indicated that more than 500,000 women lack critical services such as antenatal and postnatal care and the management of sexually transmitted infections in Gaza.
