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In focus

In Focus: Supporting women and girls affected by the war on Gaza

11 May 2026
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Palestinian women grieve over the bodies of their relatives who were killed in Israeli bombings in Nuseirat and Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip. Photo: UN Women/Samar Abu Elouf

In Focus: Supporting women and girls affected by the war on Gaza

Women and girls in Gaza continue to face death, widespread displacement, severe deprivation and catastrophic levels of hunger.

UN Women is here, on the ground, working with women-led organizations providing lifesaving services – and centering women’s leadership to guide response and recovery.

The situation

Since October 2023, Israeli airstrikes and land military operations have devastated the Gaza Strip. More than 38,000 women and girls have been killed, and close to 11,000 have sustained injuries so devastating that they are now living with lifelong disabilities.

Nearly one million women and girls have been displaced. Access to water and food have been so severely limited that nearly 790,000 women and girls are experiencing crisis-level or catastrophic levels of food insecurity. Extensive damage to infrastructure has made it almost impossible for women and girls in Gaza to access essential services like health care.

Tens of thousands of households are now headed by women. Having lost their husbands, many of these women are sustaining their families without income, without support, and without access to essential services.

UN Women calls for:

  • The full implementation of the ceasefire in Gaza and respect for international law
  • Accountability for violations and the protection of women and girls
  • Humanitarian assistance to reach those in need at scale and without obstruction
  • The meaningful inclusion of women and girls at the centre of all response and recovery efforts

UN Women’s humanitarian action in Occupied Palestinian Territory

UN Women has been present in Palestine since 1997, supporting the rights of Palestinian women and girls. We remain on the ground to provide humanitarian assistance and to support women-led organizations.

Stand with Women in Gaza

More than 38,000 women and girls have been killed in Gaza since October 2023. Your donation provides urgent aid, protection, and hope.

DONATE NOW
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During a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Palestine in November 2023, Palestinian citizens return to their homes in the town of Khuza’a, inspecting homes that were destroyed by Israeli bombing in Gaza. Photo: UN Women/Samar Abu Elouf

All speeches and statements

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UN Under-Secretary General and UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous delivers remarks at the UN Security Council meeting on “Women and peace and security” on 6 October 2025, UN headquarters. Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown.
Speech

Speech: When women lead, peace follows

6 October 2025
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Statement

UN Women statement on the escalating humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza

28 July 2025
First day of ceasefire, Jan 2025, Palestine
Statement

UN Women statement on the ceasefire and release of hostages agreement in Gaza

19 January 2025
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Statement

Stop the assault on Palestinians in Gaza and on those trying to help them

1 November 2024
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Statement

Statement: 'These atrocities must end'

23 September 2024
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Speech

Speech: Call for action: Urgent humanitarian response for Gaza

12 June 2024
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Statement

Civilians in Gaza in extreme peril while the world watches on: Ten requirements to avoid an even worse catastrophe

21 February 2024
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Statement

Statement by Principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee: We cannot abandon the people of Gaza

30 January 2024
During the sunset, Palestinians walk next to the sea in the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on 8 January 2024.
Statement

Statement on Gaza by UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous

19 January 2024
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Statement

UN Women statement on the situation in Israel and Gaza

1 December 2023
UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director Sima Bahous briefs the UN Security Council on “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question”, on 22 November 2023 at UN headquarters.
Speech

Speech: Now more than ever we must seek peace

22 November 2023
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Statement

‘We need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire’ – Statement by principals of the Inter-Agency Standing Committee on the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory

5 November 2023
Ms. Sima Bahous, UN Under-Secretary-General and UN Women Executive Director, delivers a briefing to the UN Security Council annual open debate on women, peace and security, UN Headquarters, 25 October 2023. Photo: UN Women/Ryan Brown.
Speech

Speech: A call for urgent, transformative action

25 October 2023
Amid relentless violence, families flee their shattered homes in Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood, seeking refuge in the southern Gaza Strip, 10 October 2023. Photo: UNICEF/Eyad El Baba.
Statement

UN Women statement on the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory

13 October 2023

Latest stories

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Image
A woman in a wheelchair sits outdoors beside a girl washing dishes, with a child standing nearby.
FAQs

How war impacts women and girls: A simple explainer on gender and conflict

20 May 2026
A female medical student treats an injured child in a medical facility in Gaza.
Feature story

What is life like for women working in Gaza? Doctors, teachers and journalists speak out

29 April 2026
Young girl inside a tent.
Feature story

Who are the women and girls behind Gaza war’s horrific casualty toll?

20 April 2026
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The “Smile of Hope" is run by AISHA, a UN Women partner and women-led-organization that provides, among other services, case management and protection support for displaced female cancer patients. Standing together during a visit to assess the women’s needs are Reem Frainah, AISHA's director (in blue dress) and Isadora de Moura, head of the UN Women Gaza sub-office (in vest). Photo: UN Women/Sulaiman Hejji
FAQs

Women in Gaza: What they need now as the ceasefire holds

24 October 2025
Every time Fullah Ziyad Khalil Arafat hears she has to move again, she feels despair in her bones. The mother of five also takes care of her husband’s aging parents. “If we want to move from one place to another, we need money for transport,” she says. “The cost of a tent is (about 500 ILS – more than USD 100) every month. From where would we get that?” Photo: UN Women
Feature story

What it means to be a woman in Gaza today

12 September 2025
Hanin Hamaduna Photo: Mohammad Abdallah, Gaza
Feature story

The long walk home: Displaced Gazans are going back

12 February 2025
Leen
Feature story

‘Our strength is all we have left’ - Generations of Palestinian women and girls endure war and displacement

27 November 2024
Extensive destruction is seen in the Gaza strip following Israeli airstrikes on 10 October 2023.
Feature story

Voices from Gaza: Amani’s story of loss

1 November 2023

Media centre

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A young Ugandan woman sits with another local woman to talk
Press release

At least one million women and girls lose access to critical support as aid cuts dismantle women’s organizations working in humanitarian crises

10 July 2026
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Press briefing

Aid cuts decimate services for women and girls as women’s organizations struggle to stay afloat

10 July 2026
In February 2025, a woman in Gaza stands in the doorway of an apartment destroyed by explosion. Photo: UN Women/Suad Al Nawajha
Press release

More than 38,000 women and girls were killed in Gaza between October 2023 and December 2025

17 April 2026
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Press briefing

Where is the humanity, when more than 38,000 women and girls in Gaza have been killed?

17 April 2026
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Press briefing

Remarks by UN Women Chief of Humanitarian Action Sofia Calltorp following her visit to Gaza

25 November 2025
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Press briefing

Press briefing by UN Women on the situation of women and girls in Gaza

17 October 2025
During a temporary ceasefire between Israel and Palestine in November 2023, Palestinian citizens return to their homes in the town of Khuza’a, inspecting homes that were destroyed by Israeli bombing in Gaza. Photo: UN Women/Samar Abu Elouf
News

UN Women estimates over 28,000 women and girls killed in Gaza since October 2023

19 May 2025
An injured child lays on a hospital cot while a women comforts her
Press briefing

Press briefing by UN Women on the collapse of a Gaza ceasefire and its devastating impact on women and girls

28 March 2025
17-year-old Noor, pictured in Gaza City, Jabalia Camp on 21 March 2025. Photo: UNICEF/UNI766969/Nateel
News

'Life has stopped. We didn’t sleep all night, paralyzed' – Women of Gaza report intolerable toll of the war

27 March 2025
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Press briefing

Media briefing by Maryse Guimond, UN Women Special Representative in Palestine, about her visit to Gaza

18 July 2024
A family is seen sitting around a bowl of beans in their tent in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip.
News

At least 557,000 women in Gaza are facing severe food insecurity

27 June 2024
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Press briefing

Media briefing at the Palais des Nations by Maryse Guimond, UN Women Special Representative in Palestine

21 June 2024
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Press release

Women-led organizations must lead Gaza response

10 June 2024
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Press release

Intensified military operations will bring increased death and despair in Rafah

6 May 2024
More than one million Palestinian women and girls in Gaza are facing catastrophic hunger, with almost no access to food, safe drinking water, functioning toilets or running water, creating life-threatening risks.
Press release

Six months into Gaza war, over 10,000 women killed

16 April 2024
Salma, a 29-year-old, carries her infant while walking on Rashid Street, west of Gaza City, on 11 January 2024.
Press release

9,000 women have been killed in Gaza since early October

1 March 2024
Two women cross the road and are surrounded by destroyed buildings on al-Jalaa Street in the centre of Gaza City on 11 January 2024.
Press release

Two mothers are killed in Gaza every hour

19 January 2024
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Press release

UN Women reiterates calls for immediate ceasefire

16 November 2023
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Press release

Report shows devastating impact of Gaza crisis on women

20 October 2023

Reports

9
Publication cover

Beyond the breaking point: The continuing impact of funding cuts on women’s organizations in humanitarian settings

10 July 2026
Advocacy brief: The cost of war in Gaza on women and girls - cover image

Advocacy brief: The cost of war in Gaza on women and girls

17 April 2026
Publication cover

Gender alert: The immediate and long-term impact of the military escalation in the Middle East on women and girls

15 April 2026
Gender alert: Gaza: A war on women’s health

A war on women’s health

19 September 2024
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Contributions of women-led organizations

9 June 2024
Gender alert: Scarcity and fear: A gender analysis of the impact of the war in Gaza on vital services essential to women’s and girls’ health, safety, and dignity – Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH)

A gender analysis of the impact of the war on vital services

16 April 2024
Gender alert: The gendered impact of the crisis in Gaza

The gendered impact of the crisis in Gaza

18 January 2024
UN Women Palestine 6-month response framework

UN Women Palestine 6-month response framework

13 November 2023
UN Women rapid assessment and humanitarian response in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

Rapid assessment and humanitarian response

19 October 2023

Topics

  • Peace and security
  • Conflict, war
  • Sexual violence in conflict
  • Arab States/North Africa
  • Palestine, State of

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