UN Reports 38,000+ Women and Girls Killed in Gaza

A United Nations agency focused on gender equality reported Friday that more than 38,000 women and girls were killed in Gaza during the conflict from October 2023 to December 2025, representing over half of the territory's total death toll of approximately 71,000 recorded by local health authorities.

The figures, detailed in a UN Women analysis, break down to over 22,000 women and 16,000 girls, an average of at least 47 fatalities per day. Sofia Calltorp, the agency's head of humanitarian action, told reporters in Geneva that the proportion of women and girls among the dead was far higher than in previous Gaza conflicts, where they accounted for 15 percent of fatalities in 2008-2009 and 22 percent in 2014. "They were individuals with lives and with dreams," she said.

UN Women emphasized that the actual number is likely underestimated, as many bodies remain buried under rubble and Gaza's reporting systems have been severely disrupted by the destruction. The agency also noted nearly 11,000 women and girls who survived with injuries severe enough to cause lifelong disabilities.

The conflict began with a cross-border attack by Hamas on Israel on October 7, 2023, leading to Israeli...