A senior official of UN Women, a UN body that supports the improvement of the rights of women and girls around the world, has criticized the ongoing fighting in the Gaza Strip as "a war on women."
Kirsi Madi is UN Women Deputy Executive Director for Resource Management, Sustainability and Partnerships. She spoke to NHK in Tokyo on Thursday.
She noted that more than 10,000 women aged 18 or older have died in more than six months of fighting. She said 6,000 of them were mothers, and 19,000 children are now believed to have lost their mothers.
She said, "the impact of the war on children, on women and on girls in particular is really devastating," and warned that none of them are safe in Gaza today.
She said "the war in Gaza truly is a war on women."
Regarding the situation in the southern city of Rafah, where the Israeli military has started ground operations, Madi said 70 percent of women are reporting a sense of depression and anxiety.
She added that many pregnant mothers are suffering from anemia and are unable to breastfeed their babies because they cannot produce enough breast milk due to the stress.
Madi expressed a strong sense of crisis as more and more mothers and children face health risks due to a lack of access to adequate medical care.
She also expressed concern about how the flow of aid into the area has been slowed after Israel took control of the Rafah crossing. She called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and unimpeded humanitarian access into the strip.