WOMEN and girls in Gaza are being disproportionately affected by attacks from Israel’s military forces, after the UN has warned more than 5000 women are expected to give birth in Gaza in the next month.
Experts at the UN raised alarm bells at reports of pregnant mothers having caesarean sections and injured children undergoing amputations without anaesthesia.
It comes after an internal UN report described widespread abuse of Palestinian detainees in Israeli detention centres, including beatings, dog attacks, the prolonged use of stress positions and sexual assault.
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According to UN Women, approximately two mothers are killed in Gaza every hour (37 mothers killed every day), with more than 9000 women believed to have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza as of March 5.
Around 3000 women are estimated to have become widows following their male partner’s death, whilst more than 10k children are believed to have lost their fathers.
The UN predicts around 155k women in Gaza are pregnant or breastfeeding, with 5500 expected to deliver in the next month.
The UN Women programme does not have a presence in Israel.
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Meanwhile, children’s charity UNICEF has called Gaza the “most dangerous place to be a child”.
Since October 7, more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed, two-thirds of whom are believed to be women and children.
The World Food Programme estimates that 4 in 5 Gazans face hunger and starvation, with the risk of famine becoming more prevalent each day Israel's military offensive continues.
The UN called on Israel to implement an immediate ceasefire and concrete humanitarian measures that “prioritise the needs of Palestinian women and girls”.
A spokesperson said: “At this stage of the conflict, there is an urgent and growing need to address the near total disruption of schooling, massive destruction of housing, lack of access to sexual and reproductive health care and supplies, and heightened risk of arbitrary detention and violence, including gender-based violence, faced by women and girls in Gaza and the West Bank.”
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