UN Rapporteur says killing Palestinian women an Israeli ‘tool for genocide’ in Gaza

The UN Special Rapporteur on violence against women and girls, Reem Alsalem, has said that the Israeli occupation army has used the killing of women and the targeting of reproductive health as tools for genocide in the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Information Centre has reported.

“Israel’s attacks on Palestinian women are part of a systematic genocide strategy,” said Alsalem on Sunday. “When looking at Israel’s actions overall, it is clear that targeting the reproductive capacity of Palestinians in particular serves this purpose.”

The rapporteur emphasised that the killing of Palestinian women simply because they are women is a war crime and a crime against humanity, noting that the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide also prohibits acts of genocide aimed at preventing reproduction within a group.

“When we put all the pieces together, we find that the destruction of the health sector, leaving new-borns to their fate, and creating horrific conditions for pregnant and nursing women are all tools used in the Israeli genocidal violence targeting the total or partial destruction of the continuity of the Palestinian population,” said Alsalem.

She highlighted the devastating impact of the attacks on women and children, using data from the UN Population Fund. “Eight hundred thousand women have been forcibly displaced from their homes, and about one million women and girls are suffering from severe food insecurity. The situation in Gaza has reached dimensions unprecedented in modern history.”

Moreover, the UN official pointed out that the number of miscarriages has increased by 300 per cent due to inadequate medical care, psychological trauma and bombings. “This is not just about genocide; it also means deliberate killing and the complete destruction of the legal boundaries of war,” she added.

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