BEIRUT — Since the beginning of it’s war on Hamas, Israel has deliberately targeted women and children, who make up 70% of the death toll in the Gaza Strip. More than 1 million of the 1.9 million displaced people are women and girls. Many have been displaced more than once, doubling the already devastating psychological, physical and material trauma.
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In April, the UN Women reported that more than 10,000 women had been killed in the six months of the war, including en estimated 6,000 mothers, leaving 19,000 children orphaned. Average 37 mothers are killed each day, causing tremendous psychological pain for their children.
Yet women are often killed along with their families, especially their children. An unknown number of women and children have disappeared in the northern half of Gaza. Many children have been separated from their families and cannot reunited with them due to fighting and lack of communications.
Mistreatment in detention
Women who have survived also suffer. Many have been humiliated by the Israeli military, especially those detained and taken to Israel, according to testimony from released detainees.
In March, the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women and Girls, Reem Al-Salem, expressed the organization’s alarm over “the reports we received that appear to be credible of women having been stripped naked, in particular during interrogation having been photographed in really degrading situations… and these photographs have been exchanged between the IDF, but also shared online.” Her comments support media reports and testimonies of such behavior by Israeli forces.
This suffering includes the loss of family members. Most women in Gaza have lost one or more family members. According to the UN, about 3,000 women have been widowed, making them sole heads of households at a time of scarce food and resources.
Poor healthcare
In the first months of the war, 50,000 pregnant women were confronted with severe and painful health and psychological problems due to the rapidly deteriorating healthcare system in Gaza. It is estimated that 40% of pregnant women in Gaza have been exposed to the risk of poisoning and infections. Those who needed a cesarean delivery were not given anesthesia, disinfectants or antibiotics.
Women are forced to use pieces of cloth during the menstrual period or after giving birth.
Abortions and early birth rates in Gaza have risen by 20% since the war started. The UN Population Fund said restrictions of the delivery of humanitarian and medical aid to Gaza have primarily harmed women and their children. Therefore pregnant and lactating women face severe health and nutritional risks which automatically affect their children, it said.
About 5,000 children have been born in very poor conditions. They and many other children are at significant risk of catching communicable diseases, such as meningitis, skin rashes, chickenpox, and respiratory infections. Save the Children International warned earlier this year that 1.1 million children face death by starvation and disease as aid delivery has become nearly impossible to reach in many areas in Gaza.
Major challenges
Among the challenges that women in Gaza also face is access to food, if it is available. Women, especially single women, almost receive nothing due to scarcity, inability to reach distribution centers among other reasons. UN Women estimates that women account for 49.2% of the 2.1 million Palestinians who need humanitarian assistance. And 9 in 10 women face increasing difficulties getting food.
Access to sanitary products, such as sanitary pads, is also a serious problem for Palestinian women in Gaza. Many women are forced to use pieces of cloth during the menstrual period or after giving birth, increasing the risk of contracting genital and bacterial diseases. This is accompanied by the unavailability of toilets, bathing water and other basic necessities.
“Palestinian women and children have been subjected to these egregious crimes against humanity and war crimes. Because they are Palestinian but because they are women also,” Al-Salem said.
