Nearly 50,000 women and girls have been killed or seriously injured in Gaza since the war began in October 2023, equivalent to approximately one in every 21 women and girls in the territory, according to UN Women.
The organisation estimates that more than 38,000 women and girls have been killed and another 11,700 severely injured amid Israeli airstrikes and ground military operations.
Although most of the reported casualties occurred during the first two years of the war, women and girls continue to die despite a ceasefire agreement that took effect in October 2025. UN Women said 277 women and girls were among those killed in Gaza over the past year.
UN Women estimates that nearly one million women and girls have been forced from their homes following more than 150 evacuation and movement orders issued by the Israeli military since October 2023.
Many now live in tents or damaged buildings without adequate privacy, shelter or basic necessities. Women and girls are also bearing much of the responsibility for caring for children, older people, the sick and the injured in increasingly difficult conditions.
The organisation said women were being forced to give birth in unsafe and unsanitary environments, putting their lives and those of their babies at risk.
The number of miscarriages in Gaza reached nearly 4,000 during the first six months of 2026, three times the number recorded in the final six months of 2025, according to the figures cited by UN Women.
More Households Headed by Women
The war has also increased the number of women responsible for providing for and protecting their families.
Nearly one in four households in Gaza, an estimated 86,290 households, is now reportedly headed by a woman. Before October 2023, the proportion was approximately one in nine.
UN Women said many of these women are coping with the loss of husbands and other family members while assuming sole responsibility for their households amid widespread displacement, poverty and limited access to essential services.
Despite the ceasefire, women and girls continue to face severe shortages of food, safe water, shelter and hygiene supplies. Damage to homes, hospitals, schools, businesses and shops has further restricted access to basic goods and services.
UN Women estimates that 702,000 women and girls could face acute food insecurity at crisis level or worse between July and December 2026.
The projection is based on the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification’s Gaza Strip assessment and an estimate of the female population’s share of the territory’s population.
Women’s Organisations Struggle to Meet Growing Needs
The humanitarian crisis is also placing severe pressure on organisations providing support to women and girls.
A UN Women survey of 14 women’s organisations working in Gaza and the occupied West Bank found that 13 had recorded increased needs among women and girls since 2025.
All 14 organisations reported increases in gender-based violence, poverty and mental health distress over the same period. Thirteen also reported an increase in child marriage.
However, 13 of the 14 organisations said they lacked the capacity to meet the growing demand for assistance. Nearly two-thirds reported having to place women and girls on waiting lists or turn them away because of funding shortages.
UN Women works with women-led and women’s rights organisations in Gaza to provide protection services, support for survivors of gender-based violence, legal assistance, mental health and psychosocial care, as well as emergency cash and livelihood support.
The organisation said its interventions also include prosthetics for women and girls with disabilities and counselling for survivors, while seeking to ensure that women’s experiences inform humanitarian response and recovery planning.
UN Women Calls for Full Ceasefire Implementation
UN Women has called for the full implementation of the ceasefire, respect for international law, accountability for violations and the protection of women, girls and other civilians.
It also urged the unrestricted delivery of humanitarian assistance at the scale required to meet the population’s needs.
The organisation stressed that women and girls must be placed at the centre of humanitarian response and recovery efforts, warning that the scale of displacement, food insecurity, injury and loss continues to undermine their safety and dignity.
“Women and girls in Gaza need peace,” the organisation said.
