Gaza’s Women and Girls Face Loss, Displacement and Struggle to Keep Families Alive

UN Women estimates that nearly 50,000 women and girls have been killed or severely injured since October 2023, including more than 38,000 killed and 11,700 severely injured in Israeli airstrikes and ground military operations.

Women and girls in Gaza are trying to keep their families alive through bereavement, displacement and shortages that make finding food, water and shelter a daily struggle. UN Women estimates that nearly 50,000 women and girls have been killed or severely injured since October 2023, including more than 38,000 killed and 11,700 severely injured in Israeli airstrikes and ground military operations.

The agency describes the toll as one in 21 Gazan women and girls losing their lives or facing lifelong disabilities. Most recorded casualties occurred during the war's first two years, with deaths continuing despite the ceasefire that entered into effect in October 2025; UN Women reports that 277 women and girls were among those killed over the past year.

Displacement leaves women caring for families without necessities

More than 150 evacuation and movement orders issued by the Israeli Defence Forces since October 2023 have forced nearly one million women and girls from their homes, representing almost every woman and girl in Gaza, according to UN Women. Most now live in tents or damaged buildings without privacy, caring for children, injured relatives, sick family members and older people without the basic resources needed to cook, clean or provide care. Pregnancy and childbirth carry additional dangers in unsafe, unsanitary conditions, with almost 4,000 miscarriages recorded during the first six months of 2026, triple the number reported in the final six months of 2025.

The destruction of homes, businesses, hospitals, schools and shops has left essential services and everyday supplies difficult to reach, adding to the pressures created by restrictions on humanitarian access, bombardment and insecurity. Food, shelter, safe water and hygiene supplies remain severely limited despite the ceasefire, leaving families without dependable ways to meet their most basic needs. An estimated 702,000 women and girls are projected to experience high levels of acute food insecurity between July and December 2026, classified as crisis conditions or worse under IPC Phase 3 and above, with serious consequences for health and the risk of malnutrition.

More women are holding households together through grief

Nearly one in four households in Gaza, an estimated 86,290, is now headed by a woman, compared with one in nine before October 2023, according to UN Women. The agency reports that widowhood and women's assumption of household leadership have doubled since the war began, leaving many responsible for supporting and protecting families after losing a husband, father or another loved one. These responsibilities extend beyond earning money or finding supplies, as women carry their own grief alongside the emotional and practical needs of relatives living through devastating conditions.

Funding cuts put essential support beyond reach

Women's organisations responding in Gaza and the occupied West Bank are facing growing needs as aid funding falls sharply. In a UN Women survey, 13 of 14 organisations reported increased needs among women and girls since 2025, and every organisation reported increases in gender-based violence, poverty and mental health distress.

Thirteen reported rising child marriage, and the same number said they lacked the capacity to meet growing needs. Nearly two-thirds had been forced by funding shortages to place women and girls on waiting lists or turn them away, limiting access to support when their circumstances demanded more assistance.

UN Women works with women-led and women's rights organisations to provide protection, gender-based violence case management, legal aid, mental health and psychosocial support, emergency cash and livelihoods assistance, including prosthetics and counselling for survivors. Its work also supports women's participation in shaping the humanitarian response. The agency calls for full implementation of the ceasefire, respect for international law, accountability for violations and protection of all civilians, with humanitarian assistance reaching people at scale and without obstruction. Women and girls need peace, alongside a central role in response and recovery decisions.