Impact of the war and displacement on women and girls

According to Gaza Ministry of Health figures, from October 2023 through the end of December 2025, at least 10,983 women were killed in Gaza as a result of Israeli attacks. Thousands of women and girls are living with life altering injuries, i.e injuries that preclude a full recovery and a return to pre injury life. Tens of thousands more women have been widowed or have lost children, parents, or other relatives. Around 90% of all residents of the Strip have fled their homes and have been repeatedly displaced.

In addition to the collective loss and trauma, the war and displacement have specific, consequential implications for women in Gaza. Women in Gaza bear an especially heavy burden, materially and psychologically. While carrying the ongoing trauma of Israeli military attacks, displacement, and loss, they are expected to keep functioning fully and to shoulder the responsibility of caring for children and the elderly, even as they cope with acute shortages of food and water, extreme overcrowding, and the absence of hygiene and privacy. All of this creates an immense emotional burden, stress, anxiety, and despair. Meanwhile the rate of gender-based violence, including sexual violence, perpetrated by partners, relatives, or strangers has increased, at a time when the social, familial, and legal structures that previously offered some protection for their lives, bodies, and dignity have been shattered by the war.

The public health crisis and lack of hygiene are particularly harmful to women’s and girls’ health, causing not only infections and physical discomfort but also deep shame and psychological distress. In the absence of basic hygiene products, menstruation itself has become a source of humiliation and shame. Given the conservative social norms in Palestinian society, women pay a heavy price for the loss of privacy and personal spaces where they once had freedom. Because of the shortage of enclosed structures and showers, women report that they remain fully clothed and with their heads covered at all times, even during extreme heat, illness, or when postpartum, as they constantly fear that someone will intrude on their makeshift living space.

Further reading:

B’Tselem: Clinging to what’s left of life: Palestinian women under genocide in Gaza, March 2026

Gisha: A Safe Space for the Mind: Women and Mental Health Under Attack in Gaza, March 29, 2026

Women and girls at risk

More than 57,000 single mothers, as well as young women, adolescents, and younger girls who have been separated from their families as a result of the war, are at high risk of violence and exploitation, including sexual exploitation, due to increased material deprivation and the absence of support and protection from the family members and community networks they relied on before the war. Living conditions, access constraints, social norms, and the sheer scale of the crisis mean that the humanitarian system cannot offer an adequate response. As of April 2026, only 68 safe spaces, two women’s shelters, and a single hotline are operating in the Strip.

The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) report for the first quarter of 2026 notes a concerning rise in child marriage and pregnancies among adolescent girls between the ages of 14 and 16. In many cases, families who struggle to provide for all of their children marry off their daughters as a dangerous survival strategy in the harsh reality of life in Gaza. According to UNFPA, 63% of girls who are married as children experience some form of violence. At the same time, 10% of all new pregnancies recorded in Gaza in 2025 were among adolescents. Pregnancy at such a young age carries specific risks, and the shortage of medical services for pregnant women and new mothers further increases the danger to both the pregnant girl and her baby.

Pregnancy and childbirth in Gaza’s living conditions

In the conditions created by Israel during the war, the destruction of the local healthcare system, displacement, forcible transfer, starvation, and relentless attacks, pregnancy and motherhood have become high risk in the Gaza Strip. Adequate nutrition remains unavailable, and harsh living conditions and the shortage of healthcare services persist; in 2026, pregnant women in Gaza continue to lack the conditions, prenatal care and medical services needed to ensure a safe pregnancy for both mother and child.

According to the UN, as of March 2026 there were about 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza, with 130 to 160 births occurring daily in difficult conditions. Only 15% of health facilities in Gaza provide emergency maternal care, and there is a major shortage of hospital beds, ultrasound machines, incubators, ventilators, and mobile maternity units, resulting in early discharge after delivery and complex medical procedures, sometimes just hours after caesarean sections.

Imposing living conditions that violate reproductive rights, including starvation and the destruction of infrastructure that supports maternal health, falls within acts defined as genocide under international law. Denying women the conditions needed for personal safety and recovery, together with the continued restrictions on humanitarian aid, violates the rights of women in Gaza to health, to live in dignity, and to protection from inhumane treatment.

Further reading:

Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHRI): Mothers under fire: How much can a woman endure?, January 2026