9,000 women killed in Gaza since October 2023: UN

New York, March 2 (IANS) The UN has said that an estimated 9,000 women have been reportedly killed by Israeli forces in Gaza in the last five months of the war.

Every day the war in Gaza continues, at the current rate, an average of 63 women will continue to be killed.

An estimated 37 mothers are killed every day, leaving their families devastated and their children with diminished protection.

More than four out of five women (84 per cent) report that their family eats half or less of the food they used to before the war began, with mothers and adult women being those tasked with sourcing food, yet eating last, less, and least than everyone else.

Four in five women (84 per cent) in Gaza indicate that at least one of their family members had to skip meals during the past week. In 95 per cent of those cases, mothers are the ones going without food, skipping at least one meal to feed their children.

Gaza’s entire population of 2.3 million people will be facing acute levels of food insecurity within weeks -- the highest ever recorded as Gaza is on the verge of starvation.

Nearly nine in 10 women (87 per cent) report finding it harder to access food than men. Some women are now resorting to extreme coping mechanisms, such as scavenging for food under rubble or in dumpsters.

Ten out of 12 women’s organisations surveyed in Gaza reported being partly operational, providing essential emergency response services. Despite their extraordinary efforts, less than one per cent of funding raised through the 2023 Flash Appeal has gone to national or local women’s rights organisations.

Channelling funding to these organisations is crucial to meet the overwhelming needs of women and their families and communities, and to ensure that the voices of Gazan women do not go unheard.

Unless there is an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, many more will die in the coming days and weeks. The killing, bombing, and destruction of essential infrastructure in Gaza must stop. Humanitarian aid must get into and across Gaza immediately.