News Center – The war that erupted in October 2023 between Hamas and Israeli forces has caused tens of thousands of casualties and missing persons, leaving widespread destruction across most Gaza cities.

On Wednesday, November 26, UN Women stated that women in Gaza face a daily battle for survival, supporting their families "with nothing but courage and exhausted hands," amid ongoing violence and scarce basic supplies, emphasizing that the world cannot turn a blind eye, not even for a single day.

Sofia Caltorp, UN Women’s humanitarian affairs officer, noted that global media coverage "does not reflect the actual reality," stressing that the war is not over: attacks have decreased, but killings continue.

She described the reality for women in Gaza as a struggle against hunger, fear, and daily trauma, striving to protect their children from gunfire and freezing nights, forming the last line of protection in a place where safety no longer exists.

Over 57,000 women currently head their households alone, facing "life-or-death choices" in what she described as "impossible rebuilding conditions," with food still largely unavailable and prices quadrupled since before the war, more than a month and a half after the ceasefire.

Women in Gaza have faced repeated displacement, with one woman forced to move 35 times since the war began, carrying children and the elderly to unsafe locations. The war has left over 12,000 women and girls with long-term disabilities under extremely harsh humanitarian conditions.

UN Women stressed the urgent need for continued ceasefire, food and cash assistance, winter supplies, healthcare, and psychosocial support, emphasizing that no woman or girl should have to endure such a grueling struggle merely to survive.

Since October 7, 2023, Israeli forces have carried out acts amounting to genocide in Gaza, including killings, starvation, destruction, displacement, and arrests, despite international appeals and International Court of Justice orders.

The campaign has left over 240,000 Palestinians dead or injured, mostly children and women, along with more than 11,000 missing persons and hundreds of thousands of displaced people enduring famine conditions that have claimed many lives, mainly children. The attacks caused near-total destruction of cities and regions across the Gaza Strip.