Most of the verified deaths in the Gaza Strip during the first 10 months of the conflict between Israel and Hamas were children aged between five and nine.

This is according to a report by the UN Human Rights Office published on Friday.

According to the Head, UN Office for the Occupied Palestinian Authorities, Ajiy Sunghav, the office has so far verified some 10,000 deaths for the period from November 2023 to August 2024.

However the true death toll is likely to be significantly higher, with thousands of people still believed to be trapped under the wreckage of buildings.

It is therefore unclear how representative the report’s assessment is.

The Hamas-controlled Health Ministry puts the death toll in the Gaza Strip at more than 40,000. These figures cannot be independently verified.

The UN report said 80 per cent of those killed died in civilian homes and that 70 per cent of them were women and children.

The 10-14 age groups had the second-highest number of deaths, followed by the 0-4 age group, according to the report.

The UN Human Rights Office reiterated that some of the violations it had documented could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The violations could constitute genocide, it said, “if committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group.’’

The report referred to statements by Israeli politicians calling for the destruction of the Gaza Strip and the expulsion of Palestinians.

It said the blockade of the Gaza Strip, the prevention of humanitarian aid deliveries and the destruction of homes and repeated displacement of hundreds of thousands of people led to countless deaths, injuries and illnesses.

The office said that only international courts could determine whether such violations had occurred, but that investigations by human rights experts provide the basis for court assessments and rulings.

It also stated that Palestinian extremist group Hamas and other armed militias had committed massive violations of rights during the October 7 attack.

The attacks on Israel led to the killing of more than 1,200 people and abduction of another 250 into the Gaza Strip.

These include the killing of civilians, sexual violence, the destruction of homes and the taking of hostages, which the report said could also constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Israel attacked the coastal strip in response, with massive attacks continuing to this day. 

(dpa/NAN)