The UN finds the majority of verified women and children killed during the war in Gaza

The U.N. Human Rights Office said Friday that nearly 7 percent of fatalities have verified it Israel to war Gaza were women and children, and condemned what she called a systematic violation of fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.

The UN The figure since the start of the war only includes fatalities it has been able to verify from three sources, and counting continues.

The number of verified 8,119 victims is far lower than the toll of more than 43,508 paid by Palestinian health authorities for the thirteen-month war. However, there is speculation that the toll taken by Palestinian health authorities is an undercount, with thousands believed to be buried under Gaza’s vast rubble.

The UN’s analysis of the age and gender of the victims supports the Palestinian claim that women and children represent a large proportion of those killed in the war.

This finding indicates “a systematic violation of fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, including distinction and proportionality,” the spokesperson said UN rights office said in a statement accompanying the 32-page report.

“It is essential that there is an appropriate reckoning with regard to allegations of serious violations of international law by credible and impartial judicial authorities and that in the meantime all relevant information and evidence is collected and preserved,” said the High Commissioner for Human Rights United Nations Development. Rights Volker Turk said.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s office Benjamin Netanyahu did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment on the report’s findings.

The Israeli army, which launched the campaign after the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed around 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages, says it is ensuring no harm is done to civilians in Gaza.

It is said that about one civilian has been killed per fighter jet, a rate she blames Hamassaying the Palestinian militant group is using civilian facilities. Hamas has denied using civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, as human shields.

Due to the Israeli war against the enclave, it was brought before the International Court of Justice in The Hague on charges of violating the genocide convention. The court continues to investigate the case after finding that Israel is in violation of the treaty.

Youngest victim one day old

Ajith Sunghay, head of the U.N. Human Rights Office for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, told reporters at a briefing in Geneva that the fatalities in the report had been verified by three sources, such as neighbors, relatives, local NGOs, hospital records or U.N. staff. on the ground.

“The numbers are of course huge compared to previous years, so we need time to catch up and verify,” he said, adding that he thought the final UN count would likely be comparable to the Palestinian toll.

The youngest victim whose death was verified by UN monitors was a one-day-old boy, and the oldest was a 97-year-old woman, the report said.

Overall, those aged 18 or younger represented 44 percent of victims children 59 years old are the largest age category, followed by the age groups from 10 to 14 years, and then the age groups up to and including four years.

This broadly reflects the demographic situation of the enclave, which the report noted was an apparent inability to take precautions to prevent civilian losses.

It found that in 88 percent of cases, five or more people were killed in the same attack, indicating the use of weapons by the Israeli military with consequences over a wide area, although it also said some fatalities may have resulted of erroneous projectiles from Palestinian armed groups.

(Reuters and the New Arab Staff)