Gender significantly influences poverty in Gaza, with data indicating that female-headed households in Palestine are 30% more likely to fall below the poverty line. The recent increase in hostilities has further worsened the already poor living conditions for Gaza’s female population. Since the recent escalation of conflict in Gaza and the West Bank, more than 10,000 women have died.

Gender-Specific Needs Neglected in War

In 2023, Sima Sami Bahous, Executive Director of the United Nations (U.N.) Women, declared, “Women and girls pay the highest price when armed conflict erupts.” Documentation consistently shows that the specific needs of women during conflicts, such as sanitary products, antenatal care and safe, private facilities, often go unmet and are typically excluded from conflict prevention and resolution efforts.

Gender Poverty in Gaza

Gaza’s history of political instability, prolonged occupation and entrenched poverty has left deep scars. Amnesty International argues that the lack of clear governance and leadership often results in the re-emergence of traditional structures that reinforce patriarchal values. The hardships endured by women and girls in Gaza extend beyond recent events. Even before the latest escalation of hostilities, the female population of Gaza disproportionately experienced poverty. UNICEF highlighted that malnutrition among pregnant women was already high before Israel’s recent occupation of the area.

The impact of poverty on Gazan women has also threatened their sexual and reproductive rights, issues that existed even before the recent escalation of the Israeli-Hamas conflict. Records show that 94,000 women were already lacking access to sexual and reproductive services before Oct. 7, 2023. In the five months following, this number soared to over one million.

The Current Situation for Women in Gaza

Since Oct. 7, 2023, women have accounted for 70% of the fatalities. Miscarriages have increased by 20% and seven mothers are killed every hour, with more than a million women displaced. In April 2024, the U.N. issued a ‘Gender Alert’ for Gaza’s female population due to the disproportionate impact of recent hostilities. The dire living conditions and crumbling civilian infrastructure have worsened to the point of near nonexistence.

The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that critical care remains largely inaccessible to women who are sick, injured, breastfeeding or pregnant; only one-third of Gazan hospitals are still functional. The conflict has caused unusually high rates of mortality among women and children. Tess Ingram, UNICEF’s communication specialist, stated in a Jan. 2024 press conference that an infant is born into a ‘horrendous war’ every 10 minutes. Save the Children further highlighted the emotional suffering of families, reporting that more children died in Gaza in Oct. 2023 than in global conflicts annually since 2019.

Aid for Women and Women-led Aid

Reports indicate that five women-led organizations employ a network of 1,575 staff members on the ground. These groups lead humanitarian operations in Gaza:

1. U.N. Women. U.N. women support gender-specific needs and requirements in Gaza. The organization leads the national gender coordination efforts, lobbying for women’s rights to be incorporated into international emergency responses. 
2. Women’s protection and empowerment, Gaza and Lebanon, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP). MAP promotes maternal, neonatal and child care through an integrated approach to improving quality care for Palestinian and Lebanese women affected by the prolonged conflict.
3. Women for Women International. Working closely with local women’s rights organizations, including the Wefaq Society for Women and Child Care, this group aims to address urgent humanitarian needs of women through essential service provision such as meals, clothing, hygiene kits and trauma-informed counseling.
4. Relief Web. With five teams of doctors, nurses and midwives on the ground in Gaza, this organization is providing life-saving and dignity-maintaining medical aid to Gaza’s women and girls; including the distribution of UNFPA menstrual hygiene kits.
5. Women Against Violence. A Palestinian-Jewish women’s forum that provides shelter for female Jewish and Palestinian survivors of conflict. The group makes efforts to alleviate the mental burden of female experiences by providing a safe space for dialogue between Israeli and Jewish women.
6. ISRA-United Kingdom (U.K.). A group of women from Birmingham, U.K., operates under the slogan “Women for Gaza.” This NGO provides life-saving provisions to preserve the dignity of women caught amid the Israeli-Hamas conflict.

The intense struggles faced by women-led organizations on the ground in Gaza highlight their steadfast commitment to saving lives. Bahous recognizes, their work transcends mere survival: “It is about maintaining hope, dignity and the possibility of a better future.”

Looking Ahead

In Gaza, the disproportionate impact of conflict on women remains a critical issue, exacerbating their already vulnerable conditions. Since Oct. 2023, women have represented a significant majority of the fatalities and have faced severe disruptions in access to essential health services. Humanitarian organizations, including several women-led groups, continue to make efforts to provide crucial aid.

– Thea Carter

Thea is based in London, UK and focuses on Global Health and Politics for The Borgen Project.

Photo: Flickr