300% spike in miscarriages: no safe pregnancies in Gaza as Israel’s assault continues, HRW report finds

A damning report released yesterday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) reveals the catastrophic impact of Israel’s military offensive on pregnant women and newborns in Gaza, documenting severe shortages in medical care, alarming increases in miscarriages and devastating conditions for childbirth.

The 50-page report, titled “Five Babies in One Incubator: Violations of Pregnant Women’s Rights Amid Israel’s Assault on Gaza”, exposes how Israel’s blockade and attacks on healthcare facilities have created life-threatening conditions for women during pregnancy and delivery.

“Since the start of the hostilities in Gaza, women and girls are going through pregnancy lacking basic health care, sanitation, water, and food,” said Belkis Wille, associate crisis, conflict and arms director at Human Rights Watch. “They and their newborns are at constant risk of preventable death.”

READ: UN: 15,000 pregnant women in Gaza face starvation

The report paints a stark picture of Gaza’s collapsing maternal healthcare system. Only seven out of 18 partially functioning hospitals can now provide emergency obstetric care, compared to 20 facilities before October 2023. In some cases, doctors are forced to put up to five premature babies in a single incubator due to severe shortages of medical equipment.

The situation has led to a dramatic rise in pregnancy complications. According to maternal health experts cited in the report, miscarriage rates have increased by 300 per cent since 7 October 2023. A UN Women survey found that 68 per cent of pregnant women experienced medical complications, with 92 per cent reporting urinary tract infections and 76 per cent suffering from anaemia.

The dire circumstances have forced hospitals to discharge women within hours of giving birth. “I was exhausted and couldn’t walk,” one mother told HRW after being discharged just four hours after delivery. “I was holding my newborn, and with my husband and three other children, we had to look for someone willing to drive us.”

READ: Gaza’s pregnant women defy odds to give birth, protect babies

The report also highlights the devastating impact of malnutrition, with over 48,000 pregnant women experiencing emergency and catastrophic food insecurity by December 2024. The United Nations Population Fund (UNICEF) reported that since late December, eight infants and newborns have died from hypothermia due to lack of basic shelter.

Two bills passed by the Israeli Knesset in October, which take effect in January 2025, threaten to further exacerbate the harm to maternal and newborn health, HRW noted. These new laws bar the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) from operating in Israel and occupied East Jerusalem and bar the occupation state’s government from contact with UNRWA, which would make it impossible for UN agency to deliver aid into the occupied West Bank or Gaza or get permits or visas for its staff.

READ: UNRWA chief: Israel’s ban will be ‘disastrous’

Israel has also ordered UNRWA to vacate all premises in occupied East Jerusalem and cease its operations there by tomorrow. UNRWA provides water, food, shelter, and other vital services to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, including pregnant women, nursing mothers and newborn children

HRW called on Israel’s allies, including the US, to take immediate action to end these violations. The organisation urged governments to discontinue military assistance and press Israel to ensure that the needs of pregnant women, newborn, and others requiring healthcare are met.