The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
Gaza war’s terrible toll on women and girls highlights ongoing crisis: UN Women
The war in Gaza has inflicted a far higher toll on women and girls than in previous conflicts in the Palestinian enclave, with more than 38,000 killed by Israeli air bombardment and land military operations since Hamas-led terror attacks in Israel sparked the war in October 2023, UN Women said on Friday.
The overall total includes at least 22,000 women and 16,000 girls and amounts to an average of at least 47 women and girls killed every day, the agency’s Sofia Calltorp, Chief of Humanitarian Action, told journalists in Geneva.
“Those killed were mothers, they were daughters, sisters, and friends, deeply loved by those around them,” she noted, adding that the killings have continued in recent months, despite a ceasefire between Hamas fighters and the Israeli military.
Data also indicates that nearly 11,000 women and girls have been injured and that many have life-changing disabilities. The true toll is likely higher because many bodies are still trapped under rubble, UN Women said. According to the Gazan health authorities, more than 72,315 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip and another 172,137 injured since October 2023.
This has created a chronic humanitarian emergency in Gaza where many households are now headed by women facing increased economic hardship and protection risks.
“This war has reshaped families. Tens of thousands of households are now headed by women,” UN Women’s Ms. Calltorp insisted. “Having lost their husbands, they are sustaining their families without income, without support or access to essential services.”
In addition, “there is a complete lack of most services”, Ms. Calltorp continued, highlighting an urgent need for “the basics”, including sexual and reproductive health and access to sanitary pads. She recalled visiting Gaza in November and meeting two women who had to deliver their babies in the street, “because there were no transportations to bring them to any functional hospitals”.
UN Women is calling for full respect of the ceasefire, adherence to international law, and scaled-up humanitarian assistance, stressing that women and girls must be at the centre of recovery and peacebuilding efforts.
ends
Gaza war toll - UN Women
TRT: 2’53”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 17 APRIL 2026 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND & NOVEMBER 2025, GAZA – please credit UN WOMEN
Speakers:
- Sofia Calltorp, Chief of Humanitarian Action, UN Women.
SHOTLIST
- Exterior wide, UN Geneva flag alley.
- Wide, UN Geneva Press room, podium speakers, journalists.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Sofia Calltorp, Chief of Humanitarian Action, UN Women: “Between October 2023 and December 2025, more than 38,000 women and girls were killed in Gaza, the result of Israeli air bombardment and land military operations. This includes over 22,000 women and 16,000 girls, amounting to an average of at least 47 women and girls killed every day.”
- Medium, journalist.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Sofia Calltorp, Chief of Humanitarian Action, UN Women. “Women and girls accounted for a proportion of deaths far higher than those observed in previous conflicts in Gaza. Those killed were mothers, they were daughters, sisters and friends, deeply loved by those around them.”
- Medium-wide, journalists.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Sofia Calltorp, Chief of Humanitarian Action, UN Women: “There is a complete lack of most services, in particular, I would say those services that are needed for women, that is sexual and reproductive health and rights, that's access to sanitary pads, that's access to the most basics. I mean, when I was in Gaza in November, I met two women who had to deliver on the street because there were no transportations to bring them to any functional hospitals.”
- Wide, podium speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Sofia Calltorp, Chief of Humanitarian Action, UN Women: “This war has reshaped families. Tens of thousands of households are now headed by women. Having lost their husbands, they are sustaining their families without income, without support or access to essential services.”
- Wide, destruction in Gaza, filmed November 2025. Please credit UN Women.
- Wide, destruction in Gaza, filmed November 2025. Please credit UN Women.
- Wide, girls stand amid destruction in Gaza, filmed November 2025. Please credit UN Women.
- Wide, clothes hanging to dry on a line in a shelter filmed November 2025. Please credit UN Women.
- Wide, children playing in a shelter in Gaza, filmed November 2025. Please credit UN Women.
- Medium, children playing in a shelter in Gaza, filmed November 2025. Please credit UN Women.
- Wide, UN vehicle driving amid destruction in Gaza, filmed November 2025. Please credit UN Women.
- Wide, bombed-out buildings line the horizon in Gaza, filmed November 2025. Please credit UN Women.
- Wide water collection in Gaza, filmed November 2025. Please credit UN Women.
- Wide water collection in Gaza, filmed November 2025. Please credit UN Women.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Ukraine has sustained almost 2,000 attacks on education since the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022, with some 270 this year alone, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR
More than 280,000 people have now been displaced by fighting in Yemen and many vulnerable people are unable to access lifesaving relief because it is too dangerous to do so, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UN
Tour guides at UN Geneva turned heads at the Palace of Nations on Thursday as they unveiled stylish new uniforms, designed in partnership with leading Italian sustainable fashion designers and manufacturers.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF , WFP
Aid agencies warned on Friday of the fast-developing humanitarian emergency inside Taiz City in Yemen, which has been encircled by de facto Houthi forces fighting government troops along the country’s west coast.
2
17
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences , Images | OCHA , WMO
Two UN agencies teamed up on Wednesday to issue an appeal for immediate assistance to help communities already being impacted by the strongest El Niño on record.
3
16
2
2
Edited News , B-roll , Conferences , Images | UNITED NATIONS , UNOG
Sixth Consultative Meeting on Enhancing Coordination of Peace Initiatives and Efforts for Sudan
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO , UNHCR
Yemen war continues to force families from homes amid hunger and disease
More than 250,000 people have now fled renewed fighting in Yemen, the UN said on Tuesday, citing particular concern for those sheltering in the southwestern city of Taiz and the wider governorate, where access is “essentially blocked”.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
A little over one year since a ceasefire agreement was announced between Hamas fighters and Israel, more than 340 children have been reported killed and hundreds more injured, the UN Children’s Fund, UNICEF, said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , IFRC
Six weeks after Nepal’s deadly flooding disaster, communities are still struggling to rebuild their lives, but they will need sustained help as global warming increases the risk of another Himalayan catastrophe, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
In suspected Russia plague death, testing and monitoring underway – WHO
The death of a lab worker in Russia’s Siberia region has sparked concerns about plague being the cause, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday, adding that it was following the situation closely.
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday provided and oral update to the 63rd session of the Human rights Council on Ukraine.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Friday provided and oral update to the 63rd session of the Human rights Council on the human rights situation in Haiti.