According to the UN human rights office (OHCHR), more than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7, 2023, when Palestinian armed groups attacked communities in southern Israel, triggering a large-scale military assault by Israel against the enclave.
OHCHR said 94 percent of Gaza's hospitals have been damaged or destroyed, leaving pregnant women and newborns without essential care.
“The Israeli blockade has also prevented the entry of objects indispensable for the survival of civilians, including medical supplies and nutrients necessary to sustain pregnancies and ensure safe childbirth,” the Office said.
By the end of 2024, women in Gaza were three times more likely to die in childbirth and three times more likely to have an abortion compared to pre-war levels.while newborn deaths also increased, OHCHR reported.
Hospitals destroyed, medical staff killed
Israeli strikes hit maternity wards and neonatal intensive care units, while the December 2023 bombing of Gaza's largest fertility clinic resulted in the loss of more than 4,000 embryos and 1,000 sperm and egg samples.
Medical staff have also been attacked, OHCHR said, citing Palestinian Health Ministry figures that reported 1,722 healthcare workers killed to September 2025.
Dr. Ambereen Sleemi, a gynecologist who worked as a volunteer in Gaza, told OHCHR: “As we were doing our rounds, bombs were exploding in the background… Sometimes quadcopters would come in and try to shoot the nurses or literally chase them down the hospital corridors.”
He said the pregnant women arrived with gunshot wounds, including in the abdomen.
“Many women were simply too injured to survive. If their injuries did not take their lives, sepsis often did, as there were not enough medical supplies or antibiotics.”
hunger factor
The lockdown has caused severe shortages of baby food and formula. Starting October 2025, 463 Palestinians died from malnutrition, including 157 childrenreported the Ministry of Health.
Jonathan Crix of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), speaking from Gaza, told UN News that children and families weathering winter storms in makeshift tents:
“Everything was completely damp… the mattresses were wet, the children's clothes were wet. It's extremely difficult to live in those conditions.”
It warned of an increase in acute watery diarrhea and fears of new disease outbreaks.
“With the poor hygiene conditions and the very limited sanitation system available, We are extremely concerned about the spread of waterborne diseases.“
Barriers grow in the West Bank
OHCHR also expressed alarm over Israel's construction of a new barrier and road in the Jordan Valley.
Ajith Sunghay, head of the office in the occupied Palestinian territory, said this “separate Palestinian communities from each other and Palestinian farmers in Tubas from the land they own on the other side of the planned barrier.”
He also warned that it would be “another step towards the progressive fragmentation of the West Bank, which will eventually lead to the consolidation of the annexation,” stressing that this The rights of Palestinian refugee status “cannot be stripped away or altered by unilateral coercive measures.”
