The Gaza Genocide: Women’s Lives in the Crosshairs

A POWERFUL REPORT has been issued by the Mezan Centre for Human Rights Reproductive Health Under Genocide: The Struggle of Palestinian Women in Gaza.” It summarizes Israel’s 16-month war on Gaza as it assaulted the 50,000 pregnant women and and details the impact on their health and lives.

The report carefully “examines the near-total disruption of maternal healthcare directly caused by Israel’s destruction of hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies, compounded by the lack of medical supplies, equipment, and electricity…Topics include the catastrophic effects of malnutrition on pregnant and postpartum women, the rise in premature births, and the challenges of giving birth during a genocide.”

Details come from firsthand accounts, expert observations, interviews, and “the lived experiences of Al Mezan’s female staff in Gaza, who have both endured and documented these conditions.”

The accounts include Tahani Abdel Rahman, age 40 and a mother from the now-destroyed Jabaliya refugee camp, who experienced a molar pregnancy (a tumor that develops in the uterus as a result of a nonviable pregnancy) resulting in intense pain “worse than labor” and surgery at al-Awda hospital “in a room with shattered windows.

When the condition recurred, she required additional emergency surgery, without anesthesia. Despite chemotherapy and lacking access to nutritional supplements and an urgently needed MRI, “I suffer from dizziness, anemia, and weakness,” she says. “My health continues to decline, and I don’t know what the future holds.”

Brutal Conditions

The report documents women giving birth in life-threatening conditions, undergoing C-sections without anesthesia, and giving birth in set-up tents lacking “essential medical equipment, sanitary conditions, hygiene products, and privacy.”

Dr. Taghreed Al-Emawi, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Kemal Adwan Hospital — whose director Hussam Abu-Safiyeh was kidnapped by Israeli troops when they destroyed it — reports:

“I provided medical care to pregnant women in the school in which I had sought refuge after my home was destroyed,” relying “on the few basic tools I had managed to carry with me…Many pregnant women had to walk to the medical point to give birth, as ambulance movement was prohibited after 7:00 pm. Some women were injured on the way.”

What’s amazing is both the indescribable conditions facing women in conditions of destroyed medical infrastructure, and the determination of medical staff to continue working without regard for their own well-being — another indication of Israel’s failure to destroy a society’s will to survive.

According to the United Nations Population Fund, as of January 2025, approximately 46,300 pregnant women in Gaza are enduring severe hunger, while UN Women (www.unwomen.org) estimated that 557,000 women are experiencing extreme food insecurity.

“Malnutrition is causing more women to lose weight during pregnancy, posing serious risks to the health and survival of both mothers and their unborn babies. Many newborns are being delivered weighing less than 2.5 kilograms (six pounds —ed.)…These indicators highlight the severe impact of malnutrition on maternal and infant health in Gaza.”

The report demands international intervention toward the following goals:

• End the Hostilities and Lift the Siege on Gaza, restore freedom of movement and access to humanitarian aid.

• Protect Healthcare Facilities and ensure that they can provide care without interference or targeting.

• Ensure Humanitarian Access for medical supplies and other essential resources for women and their newborns.

• Restore Basic Services of electricity, fuel and water for hospitals and clinics.

• Enforce International Law as advised by the International Court of Justice to end Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory.

• Expand Advocacy and Monitoring by UN bodies and international organizations to document violations.

• Support Long-Term Recovery for Gaza’s healthcare infrastructure, sustained support for maternal and reproductive care, and programs to address the psychological trauma that women in Gaza face.

March-April 2025, ATC 235