Gaza’s Women and Girls Are Running Out of Time

Cairo, April 10, 2025 – The situation in Gaza has become unbearable for women and girls. What was once a fragile ceasefire—a faint beacon of hope for peace and recovery—has now vanished. As Israel’s blockade of humanitarian aid extends into its second month, the crisis has spiraled into catastrophe. Women and families are simply fighting to survive. 

Since the resumption of hostilities on 18 March, more than 500 children and 270 women have been killed, a devastating testament to the indiscriminate brutality of this war. Nearly two-thirds of Gaza is now a declared ‘no-go zone.’ As women-led organizations reported to UN Women, "nowhere is safe". Uprooted once again, 400,000 people have been forced into increasingly congested areas, with no access to food, clean water or medical care. 

Hunger is accelerating. Disease is spreading unchecked. Makeshift camps are overflowing and lack sanitation. Without fuel, families endure freezing nights with nothing to protect them from the cold. Pregnant women, new mothers, and newborns—already weakened by extreme malnutrition—face deadly risks. 

As living conditions rapidly deteriorate, protection needs are soaring. Yet, critical support systems are being dismantled. 

Nearly one in four safe spaces that provide life-saving psychosocial support and referrals have shut down. Over the weekend, Dar Al Arqam School in eastern Gaza—home to a UNFPA-supported safe space and shelter for displaced families—was destroyed by an airstrike. Girls, especially those orphaned or separated from family, are at extraordinary risk. 

Women-led organizations, supported by UN Women and UNFPA, continue to operate amid this devastation. Yet the challenges they face are increasing by the day. In the last 18 months, hundreds of aid workers have been killed or injured. These acts are a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. This cannot be allowed to continue.

A ceasefire must be reinstated immediately. Full humanitarian access must be restored. Food, medicine, fuel, and life-saving supplies must reach all civilians in need. Hostages and all those arbitrarily detained must be released immediately and unconditionally.

The world cannot look away as women and girls are starved, bombed and silenced. These are not casualties—they are lives destroyed in places they were told would offer safety. International humanitarian law must be upheld. Those responsible for its violations must be held to account. 

Women and girls in Gaza must be protected. Their rights and dignity must be upheld—without condition, without exception.