The current Israel-Hamas conflict has left nearly three times more people dead in Gaza than in the last 15 years combined, according to a report from United Nations Women, the organization’s gender equality entity.
The statistics released Friday say more than 24,620 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the latest war began with Hamas’ attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023.
The UN’s death toll also reflects the number released by the Hamas-run Ministry of Health in Gaza. CNN cannot independently verify these numbers due to the challenges of reporting from the war zone.
The report specifically analyzed the war’s impact on women. According to the data:
- About 70 percent of those killed in Gaza since October 7 were women or children
- Two mothers are killed in Gaza every hour
- Gaza’s only two women’s shelters, both in Gaza City, are now closed
- Women lack adequate water and sanitation, including for managing menstrual hygiene, impacting mental and physical health
- Communications and electricity blackouts are severely restricting remote gender-based violence services
- 1.9 million people (or 85 percent of Gaza’s total population) have been displaced, including what UN Women estimates to be 1 million women and girls, the agency said
Earlier Friday, the UN International Children’s Emergency Fund said there had been nearly 20,000 births in Gaza during the current war — with many of the mothers suffering or dying in childbirth due to a lack of resources, and newborns facing dismal conditions.
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