By International Affairs Correspondent
At least 33,000 Palestinian women and girls have been killed in Israeli assaults over the past two years, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
In a statement marking the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the ministry said the scale of casualties underscores the extent of the ongoing violence. Citing figures from Gaza’s Government Media Office, it reported that more than 12,500 women and 20,000 children have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since October 2023.
The ministry accused Israel of committing “systematic crimes against Palestinian women, including genocide, extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arbitrary and administrative detention, torture and sexual violence, home demolitions, land seizure, settler terrorism, starvation, and intimidation.”
It further alleged that Israel is using advanced surveillance technologies, including artificial intelligence and cyber-spying tools, to “target and terrorize the Palestinians, especially women.”
The statement called for maintaining “international momentum to end the illegal Israeli colonial occupation, implement the two-state solution with the independence of the State of Palestine, and to safeguard the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to self-determination, independence, and the right of return without restrictions.”
Nearly 70,000 Palestinians have been killed and almost 171,000 injured since Israel launched its offensive on Gaza in October 2023, leaving large parts of the enclave in ruins.
WAFA reported on Tuesday that medical sources have confirmed 69,775 fatalities, the majority women, and children, and 170,965 injuries since the start of the Israeli campaign. Many more are believed to be buried beneath the rubble, with rescue teams unable to reach them due to continued bombardment and widespread destruction.
Hospitals in the Gaza Strip received 17 bodies in the past 24 hours — three newly reported deaths and 14 recovered remains, along with 16 wounded individuals.
Since the 11 October 2025 ceasefire, the death toll has risen by 345, with more than 889 wounded, and 588 bodies recovered.
Separately, the Israeli army said Hamas on Tuesday returned the remains of another Israeli hostage as part of the ceasefire agreement. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the coffin was transferred by Red Cross teams to Israeli forces inside Gaza and will be handed to the family once identified.
With the latest transfer, Hamas has completed the release of 20 living hostages and the remains of 28 others under the first phase of the deal, which began on 10 October. Israel maintains that two bodies are still being held in Gaza, alleging that one of the returned remains did not belong to an Israeli captive and that another set of remains had been previously recovered.
In the occupied West Bank, the Israeli army said a Palestinian man was killed and five others detained during an overnight raid in Jenin. A military statement said Sultan Al-Ghani was killed in a joint operation with the Shin Bet, alleging he was responsible for a hammer attack that killed an illegal settler in the Kedumim settlement near Qalqilya in August 2024.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said Ghani, 22, was shot dead in the village of Marka, south of Jenin, and that Israeli forces withheld his body. Five others were detained.
Israeli forces have intensified operations across the West Bank since the Gaza war began. At least 1,080 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 11,000 injured by the army and illegal settlers, while over 20,000 have been arrested.
In July, the International Court of Justice issued a landmark advisory opinion declaring Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal and calling for the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
A report released last week by Human Rights Watch warned of escalating displacement, documenting the expulsion of 32,000 Palestinians from the Jenin, Nur Shams and Tulkarem refugee camps since January, the largest mass displacement in the West Bank since 1967.
[Photo: Israeli army deploy extensive reinforcements to the area and sent armored engineering vehicles to several locations as they launch a large-scale attack early in the morning on the city of Tubas in the northern West Bank and nearby towns on November 26, 2025. Photojournalist: Issam Rimawi/AA]
