Since the beginning of the war on Gaza on 7 October 2023, women in Gaza have been particularly affected by the effects of the bombing and destruction. They then had to leave their homes that had been destroyed or had become uninhabitable. In sudden and harsh conditions, they will no longer have to flee to places believed to be safer, such as schools or makeshift tents, but also places that do not have the most basic necessities. The Israeli occupation has committed horrific crimes against women in Gaza, using violence, murder and forced displacement to achieve its goals.
After Gaza women were living normally, the war situation moved them to live in tents, without safety, in difficult health conditions and under bombardment, and not only displaced or without shelter, but their dignity and basic rights are directly targeted. It is hard to say that even pregnant and sick women have been subjected to violence, starvation and humiliation, and many women in Gaza stand in long lines for little food or water.
The Tragic Situation of Gaza Women
More than 28,000 women have been victims of the heavy bombardment used by the Israeli occupation since the beginning of the war. The situation is made worse by the resumption of the war in March 2025, where the situation of women has worsened dramatically, due to the tight blockade that prevents the entry of humanitarian aid. The siege lasted more than nine weeks, making the situation of women in Gaza catastrophic.
More than one million girls in Gaza go hungry on a daily basis, with minimal food and no protection from violence from the Israeli occupation, whether through forced displacement or lack of medical care for mothers and pregnant women, and abuse and violence. This has caused the situation to go beyond just a crisis.
However, with the increased pressure of war and bombardment, the Israeli occupation authorities have forced thousands of women to leave their homes, without their will, and walk for up to five hours on foot. In addition, it takes place amid the occupation’s claim that any area they flee to will be safe, but the reality is tragically different, as each place they flee is subjected to heavy bombardment.
The biggest damage of the war is on the women of Gaza
Women in Gaza are living a tragic, inhuman nightmare that is happening day by day, with their fear unceasing and their hunger, displacement and violations of their rights worsening. But worse, the world is silently watching that event, without response or even intervention, watching without action to save them.
Women have been left to face hell, while states and institutions stand idly by, as if what is happening is nothing to them. Amid all that is happening to women in Gaza, they continue to face conditions of war and have great responsibilities to protect their children and care for their families. Despite hunger, fear and loss of loved ones, they still hold out hope for a better tomorrow.
Palestinian women are not just individuals, but are central to national identity and resistance, because they carry the next generation and are the direct target of a war of extermination against Palestinians, because the Palestinian presence is linked to them. Palestinian women are militants and the Israeli occupation uses them as a tool of war against Palestinians in Gaza.
Read more about Supporting Women in Gaza:
Israeli soldiers targeting women
Women are targeted not only because they are in war, but because they carry in their body and spirit the Palestinian survival project, and therefore targeting them is not random, but part of the policy of ethnic genocide, and an organization that aims to end the issue at its roots.
The Israeli occupation also sees women in Gaza as far more dangerous and threatening than men because their survival means several generations.
Gaza women are targeted because they are a symbol of life, and any attempt to end them means ending Gaza’s life. The Israeli occupation does not treat women’s bodies as entities that have sanctity and human rights, but rather they are viewed from a political and colonial perspective.
What women in Gaza are subjected to is not only individual assault and humiliation, but is part of the imposition of control and subjugation, so in a situation of war the Israeli occupation uses women to intimidate not only through killing, but also violence, assaults, deliberate physical and psychological mutilation, and even denial of protection in places of displacement.
The violence and tragedy of women in Gaza is boundless, and it is a cruel message to Palestinians that the Palestinian body is worthless, and that no one can survive. Violence against women also creates an environment of fear and shame within war.
The Israeli occupation has made motherhood a symbol of continuity and made it a heavy burden for women to live under fire, hunger and siege, because of the inability of women to provide safety for their children, nutrition and care or even to provide even the minimum necessities of life due to the siege and starvation imposed by the occupation.
