Citing its field team in Gaza, the organization said many of the women killed were of childbearing age, and included those killed alongside their children in their homes.
Israel has killed an average of 21.3 Palestinian women per day, or approximately one woman per hour, through direct bombardment of the Gaza Strip since October 2023, according to the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor.
This does not include those who have died “due to the siege, starvation, or lack of medical care,” the Geneva-based organization said on Monday.
At least 7,920 mothers killed since October 2023.. Israel is wiping out a Palestinian woman every hour in #Gaza. Some are buried with their children. Others survive only to pull their children from beneath the rubble.#MothersDay pic.twitter.com/t8KX1XSUvi
— Euro-Med Monitor (@EuroMedHR) May 11, 2025
“The shocking, unprecedented rate at which women are being killed in the Gaza Strip reflects a systematic Israeli pattern of mass killings deliberately targeting Palestinian women, especially mothers,” it stated.
Destroying ‘an Entire Demographic’
Citing its field team in Gaza, the organization said many of the women killed were of childbearing age, and included those “killed alongside their children in their homes, displacement camps, temporary shelters, or while fleeing in search of safety or trying to protect their children from bombardment.”
“The escalating pattern of daily targeting indicates that Israel is using the killing of Palestinian women in the Gaza Strip as a tool to destroy an entire demographic, falling within the crime of genocide under international law,” Euro-Med Monitor stated.
Israel kills a Palestinian woman every hour in the #Gaza Strip, including 7,920 mothers so farhttps://t.co/sYlkoZGD9I
— Euro-Med Monitor (@EuroMedHR) May 12, 2025
Field data revealed “a systemic Israeli pattern of killing pregnant women and young mothers alongside their children, or while they attempt to care for and protect their families.”
“This is a blatant violation of international humanitarian law, and is an act that directly threatens the future of the Palestinian population,” the organization stressed.
Close to 8,000 Mothers Killed
Official health records confirm the killing of 12,400 Palestinian women, including 7,920 mothers, during the 582 days of Israel’s genocidal assault on Gaza, Euro-Med Monitor said.
Field data further indicates that death rates among mothers, pregnant women, and breastfeeding women “have reached unprecedented levels due to direct Israeli bombardment.”
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The rights body noted that Israel’s targeting “extends beyond killings” as 60,000 pregnant women are currently enduring severe conditions due to malnutrition, hunger, and inadequate healthcare, citing the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
“This situation results directly from Israel’s strict blockade and ban on the entry of goods and aid since early March,” Euro-Med Monitor said.
‘Element of Genocide’
The rights body emphasized that the killing of Palestinian women and mothers, particularly pregnant women, “follows a clear pattern of birth prevention, constituting a fundamental element of genocide under Article 2(d) of the 1948 Genocide Convention.”
This Article defines “imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group” as an act of genocide, the body noted.
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Israel’s prevention of births in the Gaza Strip “takes multiple forms, including the direct killing of women of childbearing age; the targeting of pregnant mothers; the destruction of healthcare infrastructure for childbirth as well as maternal care; the denial of essential medicines and medical supplies; the starvation of mothers and infants; and the lack of adequate nutrition for mothers and infants, resulting in slow deaths and severe health complications.”
Psychological Distress
In addition, Palestinian mothers experience complex psychological distress due to the loss of their children, husbands, and/or homes, plus their inability to protect themselves, their families, and/or secure their livelihoods, Euro-Med Monitor noted.
It said the lack of safety and repeated displacements further intensify anxiety, depression, and severe psychological trauma.
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“We have been displaced more than 10 times and survived many bombings,” said Abeer H., a mother of four from Gaza City who requested that her surname be withheld due to safety concerns, the rights body reported.
“I cannot reassure my children. Every night, they fall asleep to the sound of bombing, and I cry, fearing I might wake up to find none of them alive,” she stated.
She added, “I have witnessed the tragedy of losing mothers and children. I have become a powerless mother, without food.”
Call for International Action
Euro-Med Monitor urged all states, both both individually and collectively, “to fulfil their legal responsibilities by taking urgent action to stop the genocide” in Gaza.
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In addition, it called on these states to ensure Israel’s compliance with international law and the decisions of the International Court of Justice; as well as hold Israel “accountable for its crimes against the Palestinians.”
On October 7, 2023, following a Palestinian Resistance operation in southern Israel, the Israeli military launched a genocidal war against the Palestinians, killing over 52,000, wounding more than 118,000, with over 14,000 still missing.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
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