The devastating impact of Israel's war on Palestinian women

Palestinian officials released the latest figures showing the devastating impact Israel's bombing campaign in Gaza has had on women, as the war enters its sixth month and the world marks International Women's Day. 

"Palestinian women, especially in the Gaza Strip, are exposed to the worst humanitarian catastrophe," Ashraf al-Qudra, the health ministry's spokesperson, said Thursday. 

"[They face] killing, displacement, arrest, miscarriage, epidemics and death from starvation as a result of the Israeli aggression."

According to the health ministry and the Gaza-based government media office, nearly 9,000 women have been killed in Israeli attacks in five months.

Another 2,100 are missing and presumed dead, while 23,000 have been wounded and over half a million are displaced. 

Dozens of women and girls have also been detained and face harsh conditions in Israeli custody, including sexual abuse, according to rights groups and media reports. 

The health ministry added that 5,000 women give birth monthly in Gaza under "harsh, unsafe and unhealthy" conditions caused by Israeli bombing and displacement. 

In total, there are 60,000 pregnant women in Gaza suffering from "malnutrition, dehydration and lack of medical care," it added. 

"This brutal [Israeli] war made 60,000 pregnant women live a harsh and extremely difficult life, during which they lacked the most basic health and medical care requirements," the government media office said. 

"Hundreds of women have lost their children, newborns, or foetuses as a result of [Israeli] bombing and fear."