Ashraf AboArafe
While the world celebrates International Women’s Day on Saturday, Palestinian women in the Gaza Strip are living a bitter reality as a result of the genocide committed by Israel with American support.
This genocide led to the killing of thousands of women, and forcing them to be continuously displaced for about 16 months, in addition to depriving them of the most basic needs, such as safe housing, food, and health care.
Amidst tents and schools that shelter them after their homes were destroyed, Palestinian women face harsh conditions, some of whom lost their husbands, some of whom lost their sons, and others suffer from injuries without the necessary treatment.
On “International Women’s Day”, which falls on March 8 of each year, which the world dedicates to celebrating the achievements of women around the world, in Gaza it turns into a day that reflects the suffering and pain in the “afflicted” Gaza Strip.
During its genocide in Gaza, Israel killed about 12,316 Palestinian women, according to the latest statistics from the government media office in the Strip.
** The war humiliated them
In one of the schools in the Gaza Strip, the mother Umm Akram Abu Shamala, who was displaced from the town of Beit Hanoun in the north of the Strip to its south, spoke to Anadolu Agency, saying: “Palestinian women are fighters, we lived a decent life,” noting that the war humiliated them as they live in suffering without food, drink or clothing.
She added: “Our children are displaced, we do not know where they are, we live in schools without electricity or water, we fear the dark and lack security.”
The situation of Umm Anwar Abu Hatab, who lost her husband and two of her sons in the war, is no different, as she told Anadolu Agency: “We were displaced from the house to the school, and I lost my children and husband, we live in suffering without gas, food or water, we even cook on the fire.”
She added: “The suffering is bitter and difficult. I lost my sons, each of whom supported a family of five. Women outside Gaza celebrate, while here we live in oppression, injustice and loss. We are all grieving, but we are steadfast despite the siege.”
Since October 7, 2023, women have been facing the harshness of displacement. They were forced to leave their homes after they were destroyed in the bombing, finding themselves in tents that do not provide any kind of safety or comfort.
**A Day of Sorrow
For her part, Umm Ahmed, a displaced person in the school, told Anadolu Agency: “Women’s Day is a day of celebration and honor all over the world, but in Gaza it has become a day of sorrow. For more than a year, we have been living through war and bombing.”
She pointed out that Women’s Day has become a “day of humiliation” as a result of what happened to them, explaining that “instead of being honored, we find ourselves cooking on fire, washing clothes with our own hands, sleeping in tents and on the ground.”
“While the world celebrates Women’s Day, Palestinian women in Gaza are waiting for aid after living a decent life in their homes,” she said.
**Difficult conditions
As for the Palestinian Umm Ahmed Abu Ayyadah, who lives in a tent and prepares breakfast for her four children after the death of her husband, she told Anadolu Agency: “My husband died of cancer during the war. There were no chemical doses to treat him, and we were unable to provide the necessary care for him.”
She pointed out that she lived through difficult conditions due to the war and was deprived of her most basic needs.
She explained that she turned to working in a small project to provide for her family’s most basic needs.
Instead of celebrating Women’s Day, the Palestinian woman spends her day fetching water and collecting firewood, she said.
She pointed out that she is far from her family in Egypt who left for treatment, and there is no longer any communication due to the power and internet outages.
Syrian mother Rula Al-Hourani, who got married in Gaza and hopes to return to Damascus, was not spared. She told Anadolu Agency: “I have been in Gaza for 12 years. My husband was martyred and I have four orphans. I do not know how to live this suffering.”
She added: “I am very tired. My 13-year-old son is the one who bears our responsibility. I hope the crossing opens so that I can return to my country.”
Since the start of the genocide on October 7, 2023, until the ceasefire agreement in Gaza and the exchange of prisoners came into effect on January 19, Palestinian women faced major challenges that prevented them from regaining their lives as they were.
**Women are victims of war
Women, along with children, paid the heavy price of this war, as they together constituted 70 percent of the total number of martyrs, which amounted to 46,960 until January 19.
According to Human Rights Watch, the death toll published by the Gaza Health Ministry during the genocide does not include deaths due to disease or those buried under the rubble, estimating that 70 percent of the total deaths, which amounted to about 8,200 cases until September 2024, were women and children, noting that the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights verified its accuracy.
Meanwhile, UN official Maryse Guillemone told reporters in New York via video from Jerusalem on July 18, 2024, that more than 6,000 Palestinian families have lost their mothers to date.
Human rights organizations had said that the tragic circumstances resulting from the genocide, including the spread of infectious diseases and serious injuries, increased the death toll among Palestinians in Gaza.
While women and children constituted 69 percent of the total number of 110,725 wounded during the months of the genocide, according to a report by the head of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Ola Awad, in which she reviewed the conditions of Palestinian women on the eve of International Women’s Day.
The report indicated that 70 percent of the missing in the Gaza Strip, whose number until January 18 reached 14,222 as a result of the genocide, are children and women, according to the report.
During the genocide, two million people, half of whom were women, were forced to flee their homes to escape the hell of Israeli raids. While dozens of Palestinian women were subjected to arrest, torture, and medical neglect. With American support, Israel committed genocide between October 7, 2023 and January 19, 2025.
