unsaveSave
expand-left
full screen A Palestinian mourns at a funeral for 15 people, including four children. Archive image. Photo: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP/TT
The war in Gaza has been devastating for the civilian population.
The number of women and children killed in a 12-month period is greater than in any other conflict in the last 20 years, according to Oxfam’s calculations.
On average, every three hours Israeli military hit civilian infrastructure in Gaza, writes the British organization Oxfam, citing data from Action on Armed Violence (AOAV).
The bombings and attacks have led to extremely high death tolls among the civilian population. 6,000 women and 11,000 children have been reported dead in the war in Gaza in the past year, which is worse than any 12-month period in any of the world’s conflicts in the last 20 years. In the initial bloody years in Syria, by comparison, an average of 4,700 children were killed per year, Oxfam says, citing the organization Every Casualty Counts.
“These unimaginable numbers are both horrific and heartbreaking. Influential actors in the international community have not only failed to hold Israel accountable, they are also complicit in the atrocities by unconditionally continuing to supply Israel with weapons,” says the organization’s Middle East Director Sally Abi Khalil.
Israel has consistently stated that it tries to minimize civilian casualties. Death figures from Gaza usually come from the Hamas-controlled health ministry and are difficult for the media to verify, but are regularly referenced by UN agencies and other international organizations.
The war began on October 7 last year, when the terrorist group Hamas entered Israel and killed more than 1,200 people.