The struggle of Palestinian women in Gaza continues as they fight to keep their families percent of the 111,852 wounded.

Furthermore, 70 percent of Gaza’s 14,222 missing persons by January 18 were women and children. Over 2 million Palestinians, half of them women, were forcibly displaced, seeking refuge in makeshift tents or the ruins of their destroyed homes. Many were arrested and subjected to torture and medical neglect.

Pregnancy under siege

By January 21, Gaza had approximately 60,000 pregnant women, many at risk due to the collapse of health care services.

A Human Rights Watch report on Palestine in 2024 confirmed that the destruction of Gaza’s health care system left pregnant women without essential medical care, increasing the risk of complications before, during and after childbirth.

UN experts warned of a 300 percent increase in miscarriages in Gaza. On October 7, 2024, the UN Population Fund estimated that 155,000 pregnant and nursing women in Gaza faced extreme starvation, including 64,300 in catastrophic conditions.

Sole breadwinners amid famine

With thousands of men killed or imprisoned, Gaza’s women were forced to assume full responsibility for their families.

The destruction of 88 percent of infrastructure, including homes, schools and vital institutions, left little opportunity for economic recovery.

By January 2025, 13,901 women had lost husbands. Many others were left to care for their children alone after their husbands were arrested by Israeli forces.

With Gaza’s economy in ruins and humanitarian aid cut off, Palestinian women resorted to desperate measures for survival.

To combat starvation, they baked bread using animal feed, cooked wild herbs and drastically reduced their food intake to prioritise their children’s nutrition.

Some sent their children to work, risking their education, while others rationed their canned goods to withstand the fast during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Mothers grieving

By Jan. 21, thousands of Palestinian mothers had lost 17,861 children, leaving them in deep psychological distress.

While the bombing has stopped, the grief remains. Gaza’s mothers live with "persistent nightmares, deep-rooted depression, and the daily agony of holding onto their surviving children while mourning the ones they lost,” according to a report by the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.

UN estimates said an average of 15 children per day suffered life-altering disabilities during the war, bringing the total to 7,065 facing permanent impairments, including amputations, blindness and deafness. With the health care system in ruins, their mothers bear the full responsibility of caring for them.

Homeless and displaced

Women in Gaza now face another struggle -- surviving without shelter.

Guimond, the UN official, reported that by July 2024, 1 million women and girls had lost their homes.

Many continue to live in makeshift tents, while others remain in unsafe, partially collapsed buildings, putting them at constant risk.

On Sunday, Israel announced it would block humanitarian aid to Gaza, further worsening the crisis.

A ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement has been in place in Gaza since January 19, halting Israel’s brutal war, which has killed more than 48,400 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and left the enclave in ruins.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its military campaign.