Embassy of the State of Palestine

International Women's Day 2024

Factsheet

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The Israeli Genocide on the Gaza Strip:

"Israel is not respecting its international legal obligations, is not complying with the provisional measures of the International Court of Justice, and is committing atrocity crimes," [1]

"Even after close to five months of brutal hostilities, Gaza still has the ability to shock us. I'm appalled at the reported killing and injury of hundreds of people during a transfer of aid supplies west of Gaza City today. This comes as the death toll across Gaza since October 7 hits the 30,000 mark. Life is draining out of Gaza at terrifying speed". [2]

"We are shocked by reports of the deliberate targeting and extrajudicial killing of Palestinian women and children in places where they sought refuge, or while fleeing". [3]

"One month ago, I thought the suffering could not get any deeper, but the downward spiral keeps worsening." "We are seeing women and children across the Gaza Strip under immense stress, confronted with unthinkable horrors ''. [4]

While Genocide affects both women and men, its impact is gendered and disproportionately affects women and girls as follows:

• Since 7 October 2023, the Israeli Occupation's Genocide on the Gaza Strip resulted in the killing of more than 30,600 including 8100 women and 12,750 children. More than two­ thirds (70%) of Palestinians killed are children and women. Furthermore, more than 8,100 Palestinian, including women and children, have been reported missing and may be trapped or dead under the rubble. Moreover, more than 27,100 Palestinians have been injured. [5]

• Each day the Genocide continues; An Average of 63 women will be killed, including 37 mothers, leaving their families and children devastated. [6]

• More than 3,000 Palestinians, including at least 200 women and girls from Gaza Strip were detained and transported to undisclosed locations, subjected to ill-treatment, interrogation, systematic torture, starvation, sexual violence and enforced disappearance.

• UN Experts including Reem Alsalem, the UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, reported that Palestinian women and girls have been subjected to sexual assaults, including rape, while in Israeli detention, and are calling for a full investigation. The panel of experts reported that there is evidence of a least two cases of rape, alongside other cases of sexual humiliation and threats of rape. [7]

• In addition, the Israeli occupation forces use of sexual violations, included; forcible removal of their headscarves, strip searches, sexual abuse and threats of rape. In a documented case of "Hadeel Yousef Issa Aldahdouh" among other cases of Palestinian women placed among naked men in trucks, to be transported into mass detention centers. [8]

• Over 1.9 million Palestinians [9], mostly consisting of women and girls, have been forcibly displaced, with nearly 1.4 million sheltering in 155 UNRWA-designated emergency shelters, across all five governorates of the Gaza Strip, including in the north. [10] Displaced Palestinians, including women and girls, are facing detrimental conditions with the continuous Israeli airstrikes, in addition to the lack of water, food and electricity.

• Amid ongoing intensive and continuous Israeli bombardment, 17,000 unaccompanied children, which are forcibly been separated from families forced by the Israeli occupation forces. [11]

• As of March 2024, and according to UNFPA, only 12 out of 36 hospitals in the Gaza Strip are partially operational with extremely limited services, [12] due to lack of fuel, damage, Genocide and insecurity. Therefore, Palestinian women and girls are deprived of access to health services by Israel, the occupying power.

• According to UNFPA, among the 2.2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, around 541,000 women and girls of reproductive age, who need access to reproductive health services. More than 50,000 women are currently pregnant in the Gaza Strip, and around 180 women a day are forced to give birth in inhumane, degrading, and dangerous conditions as they lack access to medical facilities and life-saving medical supplies.

• The Israeli occupation's collective punishment measures against Palestinians have dire consequences for pregnant women. As women, face giving birth without anesthesia, proper sanitation, or necessary surgical interventions. The aggression and Genocidal war also takes a toll on reproductive health, contributing to a rise in stress-induced miscarriages, stillbirths, and premature births. It is estimated that at least 15% of deliveries encounter complications. Furthermore, the lack of adequate healthcare access has led to an increase in maternal deaths.

• According to UN reports, there are more than 68,000 lactating women in Gaza Strip, who have a higher daily water and caloric intake requirements. They are now in need of immediate lifesaving, preventative or curative nutrition interventions.

• According to UNFPA, over 690,000 menstruating women and girls have limited access to menstrual hygiene products. Furthermore, worsening sanitary conditions, along with the lack of privacy and space, generate health and safety hazards particularly for the most vulnerable including adolescent girls, pregnant and postpartum women, disabled women and female-headed households. Thousands of cases of acute respiratory infections, diarrhea and chicken pox have been reported among Palestinians taking refuge at UNRWA shelters, the majority of whom are women and children. [13]

• The Genocide on the Gaza Strip has tragically resulted in a growing number of Palestinian widows, as an estimated 3,000 women have become the heads of households following the death of their husbands. [14]

• Palestinian women and girls are subjected to Israet the occupying power's collective punishment, Palestinian women and girls are facing starvation, disease, and death. According to deputy chief of the UN humanitarian agency, OCHA, at least 576,000 people are "facing catastrophic levels of deprivation and starvation" across Gaza Strip.

• Palestinian women and girls have access to less than 2 liters of water per day to use for drinking, cooking, and other needs. Moreover, there is one toilet for every 341 people, of which, only 24% of shelters offer safe and private latrines, while just 20% are accessible to Palestinians with physical disabilities. Showers are also insufficient, with one for every 1,292 Palestinian at 39% of shelters. [15] "Malnutrition, epidemic disease and trauma is everywhere". "The disabled, the pregnant and the newborn share 18 latrines with 4,500 others ". [16]

• As of March 2024, reports show that only 6% of all neighborhoods in Gaza Strip still exist, while around 96% of them are destroyed or damaged. Whereby entire neighborhoods have been destroyed by carpet-bombing, and by targeting densely populated areas like the densely populated refugee camps, and schools sheltering thousands of civilians, the majority of whom are women and children.

Israeli violence against Palestinian women and girls in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem:

"I would say that, on the whole, violence and dehumanization of Palestinian women and children and civilians has been normalized throughout this war". [17]

"It is a warning that we cannot lose sight of the deteriorating situation in the West Bank, where incidents of violence against Palestinians are increasing and are the worst they have been in years" . [18]

• Since October 2023, 415 Palestinian have been unlawfully killed by Israeli occupation forces, and 4,648 Palestinians have been injured, including 712 children. In addition to using Palestinian girls and children as human shields by Israeli occupation forces during the constant Israeli military invasions.

• Since 7 October, night raids in the occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem have become a regular occurrence, as the Israeli occupation forces detained more than 9100 Palestinian civilians, including 200 children, journalists, and women. [19] Mass arbitrary detention have escalated during the Israeli aggression and Genocidal war on Gaza, which is part and parcel of the whole collective punishment policy against the Palestinian people as a whole.

• Palestinian women suffer in Israeli detention centers under no legal basis, suffering from ill- treatment, torture, inhumane abuse, and sexual violence [20]. The Israeli occupation forces have illegally deprived the detainees of the following measures, as a form of collective punishment as well: contacting their families and family visits, denial of attorneys visits, deprivation of getting out to the prison's yard, deprivation of using the canteen, confiscation of electrical appliances, reduction of shower periods to 15 minutes for each room, continuous invasions of rooms, accompanied by physical attacks and threats of death. [21]

• Palestinian women in Israeli occupation detention center face the following sexual violations: Humiliating strip searches, mass strip searches, threats of Rape. Loss of privacy in prison and unlawful Footage of women by force, Obscene and sexually suggestive insults and verbal abuse, and deprivation of sanitary pads, change of clothes, or the use of toilets when needed.

• According to OCHA, since 2023 and as of 6 March 2024, Israel, the occupying power, demolished more than 1,314 Palestinian structures in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which resulted in the displacement of more than 2,761 Palestinians, including women and girls, disrupting their access to livelihoods and services.

• Since 7 October 853 Palestinians, including 350 children, have been forcibly displaced, following the destruction of 133 homes during Israeli occupation forces operations carried out across the West Bank. In addition, about 95 % of Palestinians displaced from refugee camps in Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarm. [22]

• OCHA has recorded over 622 settler attacks against Palestinians civilians, including women and children, since 7 October. Of which, 56 attacks involved physical attacks on Palestinians (injuries and killings), 495 aggression-involved damage to Palestinian property, 71 settler attack involved both physical attack and damage to property. [23]

• Palestinian women and girls also suffer from access restrictions imposed by the Israeli occupation forces, which have intensified throughout the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since 7 October 2023. The closure of Israeli military checkpoints, lack of safety, movement restrictions, and attacks on health facilities and personnel, restrict the movement of ambulances, health care workers, and women's access to primary care and hospitals. As there is more than 73,000 women pregnant and of whom 8,100 are expected to give birth in the next month. [24]

• Illegal Israeli occupation Settlers too have imposed movement restrictions, blocking access roads to Palestinian cities, villages, and lands, limiting their access to essential services and livelihoods. In some cases, settlers have also damaged water resources which herding communities rely on. Humanitarian assistance services, including health and education, has also had to stop since the restrictions intensified.

Needed Action:

• Israel, the occupying power, must immediately end its aggression and Genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, its massacres against civilians, most of whom are women and children, lift the blockade and punitive siege imposed on the Gaza Strip, and allow access of aid, including: food, water, fuel, electricity, health services, and the special needs of women and girls without conditions.

• The international community has the responsibly to end and prevent forcible displacement and transfer of Palestinians from Gaza Strip, as Israel occupation's actions, including the issuance of "evacuation" orders covering vast areas of Gaza Strip, violates international humanitarian law, notably Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits the forcible transfer of protected persons by an occupying power.

• The international community has a responsibility to end the illegal and abhorrent policies and practices carried out by the Israeli occupation. Thus, Israel, the occupying power, should end its illegal settler-colonial occupation of the Palestinian Territory, immediately end all practices of collective punishment, ethnic cleansing and forcible transfer and displacement of Palestinians.

• The international community must fulfill its responsibility in relation to the protection of women and girls in times of war, and must take collective and individual practical measures to protect the rights of Palestinian women and girls, including their right to self­ determination and independence, and stop the Israeli aggression and Genocidal war on the Gaza Strip and the massacres of civilians.

• Israel, the occupying power, should be held accountable for committing systematic violations and crimes against Palestinian women and girls, which amount to persecution and war crimes, and against humanity, aiming at bringing an end to its illegal settler­ colonial occupation and apartheid regime, in compliance with International Humanitarian law and International Human Rights Law.

• The state of Palestine urges countries and donors to continue funding UNRWA as a necessary step to secure a lifeline for Palestine refugees, especially in the midst of the Israeli occupation's genocide in Gaza Strip.

• The international community must be responsible to prevent the unfolding genocide, after the immediate and effective provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to protect the Palestinian people in Gaza Strip, which included ceasing actions that amount to: "killing members of the group, causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group, deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part, and imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group."

• The State of Palestine urges the International community as well as third parties rendering military aid and weapons to Israel, the occupying power, to stop immediately as they are complicit with the violation of International Humanitarian Law, and committing Genocide against the Palestinian people.

1 Michael Fakhri, Special Rapporteur on the right to food; Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territory occupied since 1967, "UN experts condemn 'flour massacre', urge Israel to end campaign of starvation in Gaza", 5 March 2024.

2 Martin Griffiths, UN Humanitarian Relief Coordinator, OCHA, Statement via X.com 29 February 2024,

3 Reem Alsalem, Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences; Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the

situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967; Dorothy Estrada Tanck, Claudia Flores, Ivana Krstic, Haina Lu, and Laura Nyirinkindi, Working group on discrimination against women and girls, 19 February 2024.

4 Hiba Tibi, CARE Acting Deputy Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa, 7 December 2023,

5 Ministry of Health, "Daily Report on the effects of the Israeli Occupation Aggression in Palestine", 5 March 2024.

6 UN Women, "Press release: 9,000 women have been killed in Gaza since early October", 1 March 2024.

7 Reem Alsalem, Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences; Francesca Albanese, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967; Dorothy Estrada Tanck, Claudia Flores, Ivana Krstic, Haina Lu, and Laura Nyirinkindi, Working group on discrimination against women and girls, 19 February 2024.

8 Euro-Med Humanitarian Monitor, Israel required by law to reveal the fate of dozens of women arrested in Gaza, int!. community must investigate images and claims of torture, harassment, 26 December 2023.

9 Ministry of Health, "Daily Report on the effects of the Israeli Occupation Aggression in Palestine", 5 March 2024.

10 Ministry of Health, "Daily Report on the effects of the Israeli Occupation Aggression in Palestine", 5 March 2024.

11 OCHA, "Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel - reported impact I Day 150", 5 march 2024.

12 UNFPA, Palestine Situation Report #6 • 1 March, 2024

13 UNRWA, "UNRWA Situation Report #31 on the Situation in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem", 6 March 2024.

14 UN WOMEN, “UN Women Gender Alert: The Gendered Impact of the Crisis in Gaza, January 2024

15 Ibid.

16 Jan Egeland, Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, on the situation in Rafah, Gaza Strip, 28 February 2024.

17 Reem Alsalem, Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, its causes and consequences, 22 February 2024.

18 "Martin Griffiths, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator.

19 ADDAMEER, 5 March 2024.

20 Ibid.

21 Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, "The Israeli authorities mounted an arrest campaign afflicting (55) citizens from the West Bank (2200) arrest cases have been recorded since October 7", 7 November 2023,

22 OCHA, Hostilities in the Gaza Strip and Israel I Flash Update #133, 6 March 2024.

23 Ibid

24 UNFPA, Palestine Situation Report #6 - 1 March, 2024.