The UN Human Rights Office published a ground-breaking report last year that shows women and children made up almost 70% of checked Gaza war deaths (using a special three-source checking system)
In the midst of the Gaza conflict‚ Volker Turk – UN rights chief pointed to serious problems with how international rules were followed. The UN team looked at 8‚119 deaths which is way less than the 43‚000 that Gaza health officials talked about; however the age-and-gender numbers match up with what Palestinian sources say
The reports youngest checked death was a one-day old baby boy‚ while the oldest was a ninety-seven year old woman. Kids under 18 made up 44% of deaths – with five-to-nine year olds being the biggest group: this matches Gazaʼs population setup
- Five or more people died in same attack 88% of time
- All deaths needed three different people to confirm them
- Most victims were women and children combined
- Age groups showed most deaths among young kids
The Israeli side (which started fighting after Hamas attacked and took hostages about a year ago) says itʼs careful not to hurt regular people. Their diplomatic office in Geneva dont agree with the report – saying it misses how Hamas puts civilians in danger. The Palestinian group disagrees with Israelʼs claims that they use people as shields
The UN office keeps working on checking more deaths but its taking time because of the huge numbers compared to past years. They think their final count might end up close to what Palestinian health workers reported