According to a report from “Sputnik” news agency, citing the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Israeli regime continues to prevent critical supplies from entering the Gaza Strip. A significant portion of these blocked items includes vaccines, infant formula, and essential equipment for newborns and mothers.
UNICEF announced that since August of this year, it has been unable to import over 1.6 million syringes and solar-powered refrigerators for storing children’s vaccines, with these supplies remaining pending entry permits. The organization warned that the health of mothers and children is at direct risk, and vaccination efforts are continuing under the shadow of a fragile ceasefire and severe resource shortages.
The Situation of Women in the Gaza Strip: The Heavy Cost of an Endless War
1. Women with Disabilities and Injuries
According to reports from the Gaza government and international sources, over two thousand women and girls have sustained permanent disabilities during the recent attacks. Human rights organizations warn that many cannot receive adequate treatment due to border closures and a lack of rehabilitation equipment. A report from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) states that out of 163,000 injured people in Gaza, approximately one-quarter may suffer permanent disabilities.
Women with disabilities face double the challenges; they require specialized care while having limited access to humanitarian aid.
2. Widows and Female-Headed Households
Statistics released by the local government indicate that by March 2025, over 13,900 women in Gaza had been widowed. Many now bear the responsibility of heading multi-person households under conditions of siege and severe scarcity. They wait in long lines for food, water, and medicine, often deprived of the most basic financial and psychological support.
According to field reporters, “Women in Gaza are the remaining pillars of families”; they care for injured children while also being a refuge and source of hope for survivors.
3. Crisis in Healthcare for Pregnant Women
A report by “UN Women” states that over 50,000 pregnant women in Gaza are living without access to prenatal care, clean water, or proper nutrition. Many are forced to give birth in shelters or among the rubble.
The Guardian newspaper reported in March 2025: “Israeli attacks on women’s hospitals, maternity wards, and fertility clinics in Gaza have been described by UN experts as acts with a genocidal character.”
This report emphasizes that targeting medical centers specializing in women’s care has effectively deprived millions of women of access to critical healthcare.
4. Shortage of Hygienic Supplies and Aid Obstructions
Women and girls in shelters and besieged areas suffer from a severe lack of sanitary products, medicine, appropriate clothing, and even water for personal hygiene.
According to the Global Disability Fund (GDF), items such as feminine hygiene kits, rehabilitation equipment, and specialized pregnancy medications are on the list of goods held up at border crossings, their entry into Gaza delayed for months.
5. Women at the Heart of Human Resistance
Despite all difficulties, reports emerge of the daily resistance of Gaza’s women: women baking bread in the rubble, preserving remaining vaccines for children, and supporting other orphaned families.
A local aid worker told Le Monde: “In conditions where almost nothing remains, it is these women who are keeping life alive in Gaza.”
Collectively, reports from UNICEF, UN Women, and other international bodies show that the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has a woman’s and a child’s face. The deprivation of vaccines, infant formula, maternal care, and rehabilitation not only threatens the lives of thousands but also endangers the future generation of this land.
Reuters