Nearly 70% of Gaza war dead women and children

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Nearly 70% of Gaza war ***** women and children

Reuters

About 44% of verified victims were children and 26% women, the UN said

The UN’s Human Rights Office has condemned the high number of civilians ******* in the war in Gaza, saying its analysis shows close to 70% of verified victims over a six-month ******* were women and children.

The agency said the high number was largely due to *******’s use of weapons with wide-area effects in densely populated areas, although some deaths may have been the result of errant projectiles by ************ armed groups.

The report said it found “unprecedented” levels of international law violations, raising concerns about “war ******* and other possible atrocity *******”.

******* has in the past said it targets ****** and takes steps to mitigate risk to civilians by using precise munitions.

The BBC contacted the ******* Defense Forces (IDF) for comment in response to Friday’s report.

The UN agency said it verified the details of 8,119 people ******* in Gaza from November 2023 to April 2024.

Its analysis found around 44% of verified victims were children and 26% women. The ages most represented among the ***** were five to nine-year-olds.

About 80% of victims were ******* in residential buildings or similar housing, the agency added.

The report said the data indicates “an apparent indifference to the ****** of civilians and the impact of the means and methods of warfare”.

Gaza’s ******-run health ministry, whose figures the UN sees

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, has reported a ****** toll of more than 43,300 people over the past 13 months. Many more bodies are believed to remain under the rubble of bombarded buildings.

The health ministry said it obtained full demographic data for a majority of those ******* and reported that children account for one in three of that number.

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk said in a statement that “this unprecedented level of ********, and injury of civilians is a direct consequence of the ******** to comply with fundamental principles of international humanitarian law”.

He cited the laws of distinction, which requires warring parties to distinguish between combatants and civilians, proportionality, which prohibits attacks where harm to civilians outweighs military advantage, and precautions in attacks.

Türk called for a “due reckoning with respect to the allegations of serious violations of international law”.

The IDF has previously told the BBC in response to criticism that it “will continue to act, as it always has done, according to international law”.

Reuters

The UN said the high number of women and child casualties was largely due to *******’s use of weapons with wide-area effects in densely populated areas

The report also said the way the warring parties have conducted the conflict in Gaza has “caused horrific human suffering”.

The UN said ************ armed groups have waged war from densely-populated areas and indiscriminately used projectiles, likely contributing to the ****** toll, while the IDF has destroyed civilian infrastructure and “left many of those alive, injured, displaced and starving, without access to adequate water, food or healthcare”.

The situation is worst in north Gaza, which aid groups say has been under siege since early October when ******* launched a new ground offensive against ******.

The UN said no food aid entered the north during the first two weeks of October.

This prompted the US to issue an ultimatum to ******* to increase aid by 12 November or risk losing some military support.

Jan Egeland, the head of aid organisation Norwegian ******** Council, told the BBC on Friday that he saw “devastation, despair, beyond belief” on a recent visit to Gaza.

“There is hardly a building that is not damaged. And large areas looked like Stalingrad after the Second World War. You cannot fathom how intense this indiscriminate ******** has been on this trapped population,” he said.

“It’s evident that it is first and foremost children and women who are paying a price for this senseless war,” he added.

******* launched its current military offensive in Gaza after ******’ ******* on 7 October 2023 that ******* 1,200 people in ******* and took 251 hostages back to Gaza.

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#Gaza #war #***** #women #children

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