In the numbers, women bear brunt of Gaza conflict: Palestinian Foreign Ministry denounces 'systematic violence'

On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates denounced the systematic violence Palestinian women suffer by Israeli forces under "a colonial apartheid regime imposed on our land."

It highlighted, in a statement, that Palestinian women face all forms of violence and discrimination by the "Israeli occupation" and its settlers, including killing, arbitrary arrests, administrative deportation, home demolitions, land confiscation, and deprivation of access to essential services, among other forms of abuse.

The ministry also expressed that while the world celebrates the  International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, it ignores the "genocide faced by Palestinian women and all members of the Palestinian people since the beginning of October 2023."

It stated that more than 3,250 women and 5,350 children, representing 68 percent of the total death toll since the start of the Israeli aggression on Gaza in October 2023, have been killed. 

Additionally, more than 3,500 children and women have been injured, and over 2,056 women have been widowed. 

The ministry emphasized that women and children "bear the brunt of the Israeli aggression on Gaza, confirmed by numerous international institutions, experts, and UN special rapporteurs."

It revealed that there are more than 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza, with 5,552 expected to give birth this month under "inhumane conditions" without any medical or postnatal services, "putting them and their children at imminent risk of death, violating all relevant international conventions and agreements."

The ministry clarified that the suffering of Palestinian women in Gaza cannot be separated from the suffering of women and girls in the West Bank, including occupied Jerusalem. 

On this occasion, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also reaffirmed its call for an immediate cessation of the "Israeli aggression on Gaza, an end to massacres and genocide against innocent civilians, lifting the siege on Gaza, allowing the entry of food, water, fuel, electricity, medical, and humanitarian aid to our people in the sector, including the needs of women and girls."

It also demanded accountability for the "systematic and ongoing crimes and violations of the rights of Palestinian women and girls" and for upholding the rights of the Palestinian people to self-determination, independence, and the return of the displaced to their homes.