WASHINGTON  

Two mothers were killed every hour and seven women every two hours in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, the UN Women executive director said Wednesday.

"Before October 7th 67 percent of all civilians killed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory in the past 15 years were men, and less than 14 percent were women and girls. Since that date, that percentage has reversed,” Sima Sami Bahous said at a UN Security Council briefing about the situation in the Middle East.

“Not only is the number of civilians killed since October 7 twice that of the last 15 years combined, now 67 percent of the more than 14,000 people killed in Gaza are estimated to be women and children.”

Before the current escalation, there were 650,000 women and girls in dire need of humanitarian assistance in Gaza, said Bahous, but that estimate has gone to 1.1 million, including the nearly 800,000 women internally displaced.

"Women in Gaza have told us that they pray for peace, but that if peace does not come, they pray for a quick death, in their sleep, with their children in their arms.

“It should shame us all that any mother, anywhere, has such a prayer," she added.

Every day nearly 180 women deliver babies under 'appalling conditions'

UN Population Fund (UNFPA) Executive Director Natalia Kanem said: "We are deeply concerned for the safety and well-being of all women and girls caught up in the conflict. The situation they face is beyond catastrophic."

Kanem said there are currently 5,500 pregnant women expected to give birth in the coming months in Gaza. 

"Every day, approximately 180 women deliver under appalling conditions, the future for their newborns uncertain," she told the Council.

UNFPA has continued to urge an immediate cease-fire, she said, adding the announcement of a four-day humanitarian pause in Gaza is a "welcome development."

"More aid is urgently needed in Gaza to save lives and stem the torrent of human suffering," said Kanem.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group, Hamas, on Oct. 7.

Authorities in Gaza said Tuesday that the death toll from the ongoing Israeli attacks on the besieged enclave since has risen past 14,100, including more than 5,800 children and 3,900 women.

The Israeli death toll, meanwhile, is around 1,200, according to official figures.