Killing of Palestinians in Gaza has been so widespread that women now head one in four households, double the pre-October 2023 rate
As prepared remarks by Sofia Calltorp, UN Women Chief of Humanitarian Action – to whom quoted text may be attributed – at today’s press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.
[As prepared]
Today UN Women has published a new report looking at the realities faced by women heading households in Gaza.
Women reportedly head nearly one in four households in Gaza – an estimated 86,290 families. This is double the pre-October 2023 war rate of one in nine – following widespread killing of Palestinians.
We spoke to widows and women whose husbands are missing, detained, severely injured, forcibly disappeared, or whose fate remains unknown.
We found a horrific amount of collective heartbreak. Women are dealing with the grief of losing a husband and a father to their children and face the sole responsibility of managing the household and protecting, providing for, and caring for their families. All in dire circumstances and in increasingly unlivable conditions.
Access to food, safe water, hygiene supplies, and essential services is severely limited. At the same time, there are restrictions on humanitarian access, insecurity, and continued Israeli bombardment. This forces women heading households to make impossible decisions every day on how to allocate scarce resources, access assistance, and simply ensure the survival of those in their care.
UN Women data show that women who head households are more likely to be deprived of shelter, food, and finances than male-headed households. They are also more likely to be displaced or have their homes destroyed.
Nearly seven in ten women-headed households do not have adequate shelter, compared with 55 per cent of male-headed households. Three-quarters of women-headed households report housing damage compared with two-thirds of male-headed households.
Women heading households have been forced to flee on average eight times since October 2023, compared with seven times for male-headed households. Two-thirds of women-headed households urgently require cash assistance to meet daily survival needs.
Recognizing and responding to the realities of both women-headed households and those who are de facto heads of households are essential to ensuring that women are seen and supported.
I want to also use this moment to highlight the continued dangers women and girls face in Gaza, despite the ceasefire. Two hundred and forty-six Palestinian women and girls – 137 women and 109 girls – have been killed by Israeli air bombardment and military ground operations in Gaza since the ceasefire agreement came into effect in October 2025. The equivalent to six women and girls killed every week between October 2025 and 28 July 2026.
Eighteen-year-old Raghad Ashour was killed in an Israeli strike on her way to her 11th grade high school exam in Gaza City; 31-year-old Dina Almadhoun was killed in a strike in Gaza City. A six-year-old girl was killed in a helicopter strike on an encampment for displaced families in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis; and a girl was shot and killed in front of her classmates in a tent school in Beit Lahiya.
This must stop. The ceasefire must be fully implemented. International law, accountability for violations, unimpeded humanitarian assistance that reaches those in need – at scale and without obstruction – and the protection of women and girls must all be fully realized. And the needs of women and girls must be placed at the centre of response and recovery, including their meaningful participation in peacebuilding and reconstruction.
UN Women works on the ground in Gaza with women-led and women’s rights organizations, supporting their efforts to deliver life-saving support.
