UN: Nearly 70% of Verified Gaza War Dead Are Women and Children

FILE PHOTO: Palestinians react after a school sheltering displaced people was hit by an Israeli strike, at Beach camp in Gaza City November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Palestinians react after a school sheltering displaced people was hit by an Israeli strike, at Beach camp in Gaza City November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa/File Photo
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UN: Nearly 70% of Verified Gaza War Dead Are Women and Children

FILE PHOTO: Palestinians react after a school sheltering displaced people was hit by an Israeli strike, at Beach camp in Gaza City November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa/File Photo
FILE PHOTO: Palestinians react after a school sheltering displaced people was hit by an Israeli strike, at Beach camp in Gaza City November 7, 2024. REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa/File Photo

The UN Human Rights Office said on Friday nearly 70% of the fatalities it has verified in the Gaza war were women and children, and condemned what it called a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law.
The UN tally since the start of the war, in which Israel's military is fighting Hamas militants, includes only fatalities it has managed to verify with three sources, and counting continues.

The 8,119 victims verified is a much lower number than the toll of over 43,000 provided by Palestinian health authorities for the 13-month-old war. But the UN breakdown of the victims' age and gender backs the Palestinian assertion that women and children represent a large portion of those killed in the war.

This finding indicates "a systematic violation of the fundamental principles of international humanitarian law, including distinction and proportionality," the UN rights office said in a statement accompanying the 32-page report.

"It is essential that there is due reckoning with respect to the allegations of serious violations of international law through credible and impartial judicial bodies and that, in the meantime, all relevant information and evidence are collected and preserved," United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not immediately respond to a request by Reuters for comment on the report's findings.

"Our monitoring indicates that this unprecedented level of killing and injury of civilians is a direct consequence of the failure to comply with fundamental principles of international humanitarian law," Turk said in a statement.

"Tragically, these documented patterns of violations continue unabated, over one year after the start of the war."

His office found that about 80 percent of all the verified deaths in Gaza had occurred in Israeli attacks on residential buildings or similar housing, and that close to 90 percent had died in incidents that killed five or more people.



Lebanon Condemns Attacks on UN Peacekeeping Mission

 A United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) convoy drives through the southern Lebanese area of Marjayoun on November 20, 2024, as the war between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah group continues. (AFP)
A United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) convoy drives through the southern Lebanese area of Marjayoun on November 20, 2024, as the war between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah group continues. (AFP)
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Lebanon Condemns Attacks on UN Peacekeeping Mission

 A United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) convoy drives through the southern Lebanese area of Marjayoun on November 20, 2024, as the war between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah group continues. (AFP)
A United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) convoy drives through the southern Lebanese area of Marjayoun on November 20, 2024, as the war between Israel and the Lebanese Hezbollah group continues. (AFP)

Lebanon on Monday condemned attacks on the United Nations peacekeeping mission (UNIFIL) stationed in its south, including last week's rocket strike in which four Italian soldiers were lightly injured.

The 10,000-strong multi-national UNIFIL mission is monitoring hostilities along the demarcation line with Israel, an area hit by fierce clashes between the Iran-backed Lebanese Hezbollah party and Israeli forces.

Since Israel launched a ground campaign across the border against Hezbollah at the end of September, UNIFIL soldiers have suffered several attacks coming from both sides.

"Lebanon strongly condemns any attack on UNIFIL and calls on all sides to respect the safety, security of the troops and their premises," Lebanese caretaker Foreign Minister Abdallah Bou Habib said during a conference in Rome.

Bou Habib spoke before attending a G7 foreign ministers' meeting in Anagni, southeast of Rome, along with other colleagues from the Middle East, which was set to discuss conflicts in the region.

Bou Habib added: "Lebanon condemns recent attacks on the Italian contingent and deplores such unjustified hostilities."

Italy said Hezbollah was likely responsible for the attack carried out on Friday against its troops in UNIFIL.

Beirut's foreign minister called for implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended a previous war between Hezbollah and Israel in 2006 with a ceasefire that has faced challenges and violations over the years.

"Lebanon is ready to fulfil its obligations stipulated in the above-mentioned resolution," Bou Habib said.

"This literally means and I quote: 'There will be no weapons without the consent of the government of Lebanon and no authority other than that of the government of Lebanon'."

Hezbollah, militarily more powerful than Lebanon's regular army, says it is defending the country from Israeli aggression. It vows to keep fighting and says it will not lay down arms or allow Israel to achieve political gains on the back of the war.