Children, women death toll in Israel war on Gaza 6 times higher than Russia-Ukraine War

By Can Efesoy and Mustafa Deveci

The death toll for women and children in Gaza, amid Israel's relentless attacks since Oct. 7, exceeds six times that of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine War, revealing the severe brutality in the region.

Anadolu compiled civilian casualties in the Russian-Ukrainian War since Feb. 24, 2022, and women and children deaths in the Israel war on Gaza since Oct. 7.

Israel has been relentlessly bombing the Palestinian enclave, home to nearly 2.3 million residents, from the air, land and sea.

According to Palestinian sources, Israel has used more than 66,000 tons of explosives in the attacks, averaging 183 tons of explosives per square kilometer in Gaza.

As Gaza is devastated by the attacks, 1.9 million Palestinians have been displaced.

Israel's attacks have killed 29,410 Palestinians, including at least 12,660 children and 8,570 women. Additionally, 69,465 others have been injured, with more than 70% of the wounded being women and children.

While thousands are still reported dead under the rubble, civilian infrastructure is also being destroyed by targeting hospitals and educational institutions where victims seek refuge.

Palestinians, struggling to survive attacks, also face hunger due to Tel Aviv's obstacles to bringing aid to the region.

The UN warned that 2.2 million people in the Gaza Strip are facing famine under Israel's intense attack.

The UN said, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), 378,000 people in Gaza face catastrophic level hunger in Phase 5 and 939,000 face emergency level hunger in Phase 4.

Famine thresholds for acute food insecurity have been exceeded 15% classified as "critical" by the World Health Organization, reaching 16.2%.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has suspended life-saving food aid distribution to northern Gaza until conditions allowing safe distribution are met due to Israel's attacks.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) also announced that Palestinians in northern Gaza, whom Israel has forced into hunger and thirst, are on the brink of famine.

It is reported that Palestinians in northern Gaza are forced to grind animal feed to make flour.

-Civilian deaths in Russia-Ukraine war

According to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission (HRMMU) in Ukraine, 10,378 civilians, including 579 children and 2,992 women, have been killed, and 19,632 others injured since the beginning of that war in early 2022.

A total of 8,095 of the deaths occurred in Ukrainian territory, and 2,283 in territories illegally annexed by Russia. HRMMU suggests the numbers could be even higher.

The number of women and children killed by Israel in Gaza since Oct. 7 exceeds six times the number of women and children killed in the Russia-Ukraine War in two years.

-No haven for Gazans

Since the start of the Russia-Ukraine War, millions of Ukrainians, mostly women and children, have been forced to flee their country and seek refuge in neighboring nations due to the attacks.

European countries supporting Ukraine have welcomed Ukrainian civilians, mostly women and children.

But the 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, under an Israeli land, air and sea blockade since 2007, are trapped in an approximately 360 square kilometer (139 square mile) area.

Due to the attacks, there is no safe place for Palestinians to take refuge in Gaza.

Nearly 1.5 million Palestinians have sought refuge in Rafah, covering an area of ​​64 square kilometers, due to the attacks in northern, central and southern Gaza.

According to UN data, the population of Rafah, which was 280,000 before Oct. 7, has increased by more than five times due to the migration of displaced Palestinians, revealing that more than half of Gaza's population has sought refuge in the small piece of land.

Due to the lack of adequate housing, the majority of Palestinians in Rafah live in makeshift tents, struggling to survive.

The Israeli government has been signaling a ground attack on Rafah.

If Rafah is attacked, Palestinians taking refuge there will face even more difficult days.

Because of Israel, sufficient aid cannot be delivered to the region.

-Anadolu captures situation of civilians in Gaza, Ukraine

Anadolu has been capturing the situation of civilians in Gaza and Ukraine through photographs since the early days of both wars.

Pictures depicting the dimensions of the war in Ukraine and the horrors of the situation in Gaza due to Israeli attacks are similar.

The hopeless and terrified looks of Olena Kurilo, wounded in a Russian airstrike in Kharkiv, Ukraine, and a woman injured by Israeli attacks in Gaza, are reminiscent of their desperation.

Sacred places of worship are being damaged in Gaza and Ukraine.

The images depict a similar situation of a church in the Shevchenkivskyi district of Zaporizhzhia, destroyed by an attack by Russia, and the Greek Orthodox Saint Porphyrius Church in Gaza, serving as a shelter for civilians that was damaged.

The photographs of a baby held in the basement of a maternity hospital during Russian attacks in Kyiv, and a baby being taken to the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, wounded, highlight the situation for civilians.

* Writing by Seda Sevencan