The head of the Government Media Office in Gaza, Salama Maarouf, reminded the international community on Saturday—on the occasion of International Women’s Day—of the massacres committed by the Israeli occupation, which have resulted in the killing of 12,316 women in Gaza.

While the world marks International Women’s Day on March 8 each year, Palestinian women continue to suffer from "Israel’s" violations of their most fundamental rights, including the right to life, shelter, and security.

Maarouf highlighted that "Israel’s" genocide in Gaza has left 2,000 women and girls with permanent disabilities due to limb amputations, 162 women suffering from infectious diseases, and dozens subjected to torture in detention centers.

He emphasized that the Israeli war on Gaza has widowed 13,901 women, leaving them as the sole providers for their families, and has left 17,000 mothers bereaved after losing their children. Additionally, 50,000 pregnant women have suffered miscarriages under inhumane conditions.

The Palestinian official pointed out that International Women’s Day "coincides with the continuation of the Israeli siege and the prevention of aid, as women live in catastrophic humanitarian conditions and suffer from starvation and thirst."

Maarouf added that "Palestinian women have been living under this tragic reality imposed by the Israeli occupation since the Nakba (catastrophe)."

He stressed that women in Gaza are currently facing dire humanitarian and living conditions, experiencing slow death due to starvation, thirst, and the collapse of healthcare services amid "Israel’s" continued siege and blockade on humanitarian aid.

Women in Gaza, alongside children, have paid a heavy price for this war, together constituting 70% of the total number of martyrs, which reached 46,960 as of January 19.  

On July 18, 2024, the United Nations stated that more than 6,000 Palestinian families had lost their mothers to date.

Women and children have made up 69% of the total number of those injured in "Israel’s" genocide, which has left 110,725 wounded during the months of war, according to a report by the President of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Ola Awad, who presented the situation of Palestinian women on the eve of International Women’s Day.  

The report also noted that 70% of the missing persons in Gaza, totaling 14,222 as of December 18, 2023, due to the genocide, are women and children.  

During the genocide, two million people, half of whom were women, were forced to flee their homes to escape the horrors of Israeli airstrikes.

Meanwhile, Hamas underscored that “the killing of 12,000 women in Gaza, the injury and arrest of thousands, and the displacement of hundreds of thousands are a stain on humanity.”

The group noted that female Palestinian detainees in Israeli occupation prisons are “subjected to psychological and physical torture in flagrant violation of all international norms and conventions.”

The suffering experienced by these women highlights the "double standards" of Western nations, including the United States, in their treatment of Palestinian detainees, Hamas indicated.

Read more: On Int'l Women's Day, Palestinian women languish in Israeli prisons