UN: Women and children make up shocking 70% of Gaza war casualties

The UN Human Rights Office on Friday said nearly 70 percent of those killed in the ongoing Israeli war in Gaza are women and children, calling it "a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law."

The office published the figures in a 32-page report, which covers the six-month period from November 2023 to April 2024.

It said in a news release accompanying the report that the office has been verifying the personal details of those killed in Gaza by strikes, shelling, and other conduct of hostilities, and of those fatalities, "it has so far found close to 70 percent to be children and women, indicating a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, including distinction and proportionality."

The continuation of these attacks, killing evenly across the population, "demonstrates an apparent indifference to the death of civilians and the impact of the means and methods of warfare selected," the statement said.

"It is essential that there is due reckoning with respect to the allegations of serious violations of international law through credible and impartial judicial bodies and that, in the meantime, all relevant information and evidence are collected and preserved," said Volker Turk, the UN human rights chief.

Killed in residential buildings

According to the detailed analysis, about 80 percent of the victims were killed in residential buildings or similar housing, out of which 44 percent were children and 26 percent women.

The high number of fatalities per attack was principally due to the Israeli use of weapons with wide area effects in densely populated areas, the office said.

The most represented of verified fatalities were children aged 5 to 9, between ages 10 to 14, and babies and children from 0 to 4 years old.

"Our monitoring indicates that this unprecedented level of killing, and injury of civilians is a dire ct consequence of the failure to comply with fundamental principles of international humanitarian law – namely the principles of distinction, proportionality and precautions in attack," Turk said.

He urged that the violence must stop immediately, the hostages and those arbitrarily detained must be released, and the focus must be flooding Gaza with humanitarian aid.

'Crimes against humanity'

Regarding the killing of civilians and breaches of international law by Israel, the report said that in many instances they could amount to war crimes.

"If committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against a civilian population, further to a state or organisational policy, these violations may constitute crimes against humanity," it said and warned: "And if committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, they may also constitute genocide."

However, asked during the UN press briefing in Geneva whether the office is considering the situation in Gaza constitutes genocide or ethnic cleansing, human rights spokesperson Jeremy Laurance said the office does not make determinations of crimes but provides information for local or international courts to consider and make such determinations.

Laurance also clarified that the office did not receive any comment from the Israeli side regarding the report.

Israel has killed more than 43,000 people in Gaza since the October 7, 2023 attacks by Palestinian resistance group Hamas. All efforts for a permanent ceasefire have failed thus far. It is accused of genocide for its actions in the enclave at the International Court of Justice.