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 | UNFPA
Sudan: The harrowing reality of giving birth in a war zone
Sudanese women about to give birth are losing their babies and sometimes their own lives because of a lack of specialist healthcare support, amid the ongoing war, UN humanitarians said on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , WHO
Colombia earthquake: International teams ready to support, says UN
As earthquake rescue efforts across western Colombia continued on Tuesday, UN agencies said that they stood ready to help “with everything we've got” if and when the request came from the authorities.
2
1
2
Edited News , Press Conferences | HRC
Myanmar's military has carried out a sustained campaign of deliberate attacks on civilians – including airstrikes on homes, schools and camps for displaced people, alongside arbitrary detention, torture and sexual violence – Human Rights Council-appointed investigators said on Tuesday.
1
6
1
1
Edited News | UNOG
In a new twist on panda diplomacy, UN Geneva welcomed five young peacocks to the Palace of Nations on Friday, a gift of India that preserves a tradition of keeping the stately birds in the grounds, that predates both the global body and its ill-fated predecessor, the League of Nations.
1
1
1
Edited News | WFP
Afghanistan’s hunger crisis intensifies as millions go without food aid – WFP
Afghanistan’s dire hunger crisis now affects 14 million people including babies fed on weak tea and a little bread by their despairing and dirt-poor parents.
In a new alert on Tuesday, the UN World Food Programme (WFP) said that one in three Afghans is now in the grip of acute food insecurity and that it lacks the resources to contain the deepening crisis.
1
1
2
Edited News | IOM
From fake jobs to forced crime: IOM sounds alarm on human trafficking behind online scams
A job offer can conceal a criminal network and a single click can lead to a nightmare. Lured by false promises of legitimate employment abroad, hundreds of thousands of people are being trafficked each year, held captive and forced to carry out online scams.
Ahead of World Day Against Trafficking in Persons marked on 30 July, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is raising the alarm over a rapidly expanding multibillion-dollar criminal industry that turns job seekers into victims of forced cybercrime.
1
1
1
Edited News | UN WOMEN
In Sudan’s El Obeid, women risk drone attacks by day and rape by night to access water
As war intensifies in the city of El Obeid in North Kordofan state, filling up a jerrycan of water comes at a high risk for women and girls: by day, drones strike water points and by night, women who venture out to fill a bucket risk rape. UN Women warns of a dual terror that has turned access to water into a deadly gamble.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights spokesperson Shabia Mantoo made the following remarks on stranded Hormuz seafarers abandoned for months at sea, at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press conference in Geneva, Thameen Al-Kheetan, spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and Danielle Bell, head of UN Human Rights’ Ukraine team, spoke of the deepening impact of the war on the civilian population.
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
At the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva, UN Human Rights Spokesperson Thameen Al-Kheetan made the following remarks Intensified Israeli attacks in Gaza.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
DR Congo: Ebola outbreak continues to expand, WHO sees signs of stabilization
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UN health teams and partners are still racing to contain the rapidly expanding Ebola outbreak, despite ongoing insecurity in eastern areas where the virus has taken hold. As of 19 July, the DRC Government has recorded 2,423 confirmed cases, including 967 deaths and 469 patient recoveries.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
UN Human Rights spokeperson Jeremy Laurence appealed for calm in Pakistan-Administered Kashmir amid a wave of unrest ahead of regional elections at the end of the month.