Nearly 70% of the people who were killed in the war in Gaza are children and women, the United Nations Human Rights Office reported.
In a new analysis, the UN human rights office said that 8,119 people have been killed in the war in Gaza. Of those, 70% were of children and women. Specifically, 3,588 children and 2,036 women were killed.
Of those, the youngest victim was a one-day-old boy. The oldest was 97-years-old, the UN report noted.
How Did the UN Get the Figures?
The UN report examined fatalities that occurred between November 2023 and April 2024. The analysis only included fatalities confirmed by at least three independent sources. It is also a far cry from the 43,000 death toll provided by Palestinian health authorities.
That said, both reports noted that children and women represent a large proportion of those killed. In fact, the UN report noted that children aged 5 to 9 represented the single biggest age category of those killed.
Where Did the Fatalities Occur?
A large majority (80%) of the deaths happened in residential buildings. At least five or more people were also killed in the same attack in 88% of the cases, which points to the Israeli military's use of weapons that impact a wide area.
However, the UN noted that some of the fatalities may have been caused by errant projectiles launched by Palestinian armed groups, per its press release.
The war began in October 2023 after the Hamas and Islamic Jihad fired thousands of rockets from Gaza. In addition, armed militants broke down the barriers surrounding the entrance to Israel.
The militants infiltrated the Jewish communities near the Gaza border where they seized and killed civilians and soldiers. This pushed Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to declare war against Palestinians.
Following the declaration, Israel called up its army reservists and warned civilians in Gaza to "get out." He also vowed that they would reduce Hamas hideouts to "rubble."
On the first day of the war, it was believed that 700 Israelis were killed and 2,000 were injured, per The Guardian.
