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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.
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