Jakarta, IO – The latest facts released by the global NGO, ActionAid, state that more than three women die every hour in war-torn Gaza. They were killed and injured at a horrifying rate. In addition, their essential rights to food, water and healthcare are denied on a daily basis, while they experience enormous psychological stress and trauma after two months of living under attack.
“Gaza is the most dangerous place in the world for women or girls today. The number of women and girls killed in this violence is increasing every hour,” said Riham Jafari, Advocacy and Communications Coordinator for ActionAid Palestine, per detikcom, Tue (12/12).
“Meanwhile every day they have to struggle to fulfill their most basic needs,” he added.
At least two mothers are killed every 60 minutes, while seven women are killed every two hours in the besieged enclave, doctors in Gaza told the ActionAid organization.
More than 5,000 women have been killed since Israel launched military offensive on Gaza following Hamas’ October 7 attack on southern Israel.
The latest death toll from the Ministry of Health in Hamas-controlled Gaza is 18,205 people, almost 70 percent of whom are women and children.
According to ActionAid, around 50,000 women in Gaza are pregnant. It is stated that around 180 expectant mothers every day risk their lives to give birth without adequate medical care. A midwife at al-Awda hospital in northern Gaza told ActionAid that dozens of pregnant Palestinian women gave birth amid Israeli military bombardment.
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As Israel expands its counteroffensive on the Gaza Strip, at least 800,000 women have fled their homes in Gaza, according to the NGO. Many women now live in overcrowded facilities – most of which have one bathroom for every 700 people and one toilet for every 150 people, Jafari told Al Arabiya in a statement.
There is little or no water for them to wash, no privacy, no soap to maintain hygiene, and no sanitation products. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), more than 80 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have become internally displaced, with lack of access to safe shelter. (rr)