Women of Gaza: A year in crisis - The Canadian Media

A pregnant displaced woman lives in a tent inside the Deir al-Balah camps.

Every child across Gaza has endured the trauma of war and witnessed events no child should ever see. Approximately 1.9 million people have been internally displaced by the war on Gaza, half of them children.

A mother with her newborn on the rubble of their bombed home in Khan Younis. The family remained in the ruins because they had no place else to go.

Twin girls, Judy and Jude, are 6 years old and have been displaced with their mother several times. Their lives lack all basic necessities – there is not enough food, no medical treatment, and no clean water. They live in a tent in one of the refugee camps in Gaza City with their mother and little sister.

The war on Gaza has left an estimated 37 million tons of rubble, making life difficult throughout the region. People face repeated displacement in a desperate search for safety.

A scene of repeated displacement—this is not just one family, but a group of people from the Khan Yunis area, carrying with them only a few clothes and identification papers.

Filmmaker Bisan Ouda took a look inside the Al-Shifa hospital and its neonatal department

With the health system in the Gaza Strip collapsed, some nurses and doctors are volunteering to provide primary medical services from within displacement tents, including care for pregnant and postpartum women.

Sondos, a 26-year-old woman, recounts her harrowing experience during an explosion. She was with a group of women and girls when she suddenly heard an explosion and found herself buried under rubble, bleeding and unable to move. She underwent surgery for her severely injured legs and hand, and despite a weakening fetal heartbeat, she had an emergency cesarean section. She named her newborn daughter Habiba in memory of her other daughter who was killed on the same day. Sondos has not yet seen her baby, who was in intensive care. “I was transferred to the operating room for my legs because bones were shattered…After that, thank God, I gave birth to a girl. I will name her Habiba. Habiba Al-Rahman, after her sister who was martyred on the same day. Habiba left, and a new Habiba came, God willing,” she said.

A newborn at Nasser Hospital, Khan Yunis, Gaza.

On 6 September 2024, a woman stands among the rubble of her home after the Israeli army withdrew from Jenin in the West Bank, following 10 days of raids.

Nurse Jenin Abu Rizqa from Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip has launched an individual initiative to support the health of pregnant women from a tent she set up in the Mawasi area. She explains that she started this initiative to provide free health services to pregnant women and children.

Menstrual hygiene management (MHM) kits are distributed to displaced women and girls in Rafah, Gaza. UNFPA accompanies Save Youth Future Society, a UNFPA implementing partner to distribute the urgently needed supplies in a refugee camp. With thanks to the donor, Education Above All, 550 MHM kits were distributed on on 18 February 2024. Quotes shared from women and girls who received the kits: “I am 14 years old, and this is the first time anyone has remembered me for anything, especially as a girl. I am happy, particularly with the contents of the bag and its colour, which is very nice.” “Finally, a pair of flip-flops. They were practically impossible to find in the markets, and my old ones were broken.” “May God bless you, because this is the first time I have received a such package since the day we were displaced.” “All the items in the bag are not available in the first place, and even if they are, their prices are very expensive.” “Thank you for your credibility and honesty. You are the first people to come and provide us with something so beneficial.” “Oh God, why did I wear those pants? I only had one pair. All the items in the bag are crucial, and we truly need them.”

Menstrual hygiene management (MHM) kits are distributed to displaced women and girls in Rafah, Gaza. UNFPA accompanies Save Youth Future Society, a UNFPA implementing partner to distribute the urgently needed supplies in a refugee camp. With thanks to the donor, Education Above All, 550 MHM kits were distributed on on 18 February 2024. Quotes shared from women and girls who received the kits: “I am 14 years old, and this is the first time anyone has remembered me for anything, especially as a girl. I am happy, particularly with the contents of the bag and its colour, which is very nice.” “Finally, a pair of flip-flops. They were practically impossible to find in the markets, and my old ones were broken.” “May God bless you, because this is the first time I have received a such package since the day we were displaced.” “All the items in the bag are not available in the first place, and even if they are, their prices are very expensive.” “Thank you for your credibility and honesty. You are the first people to come and provide us with something so beneficial.” “Oh God, why did I wear those pants? I only had one pair. All the items in the bag are crucial, and we truly need them.”

Large numbers of displaced people in the Deir al-Balah area, including children, women, and the elderly, are enduring harsh conditions of displacement.

Adolescent Rahaf was injured while fleeing her home. Now, she and her family live in a tent in Mawasi Khan younis that lacks basic necessities.

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