Full Breakdown
Surge in Gender-Based Violence Among Displaced Women in Gaza
By Drooid · · How we work
Core Event
United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) reports released between December 2025 and early 2026 document a sharp rise in gender-based violence (GBV) affecting Palestinian women and girls living in overcrowded displacement camps in Gaza. The reports, based on testimonies from 230 displaced women at the Women’s Affairs Center, link the increase to Israel’s security measures after October 7, large-scale evacuations, and disruptions to humanitarian aid and basic services.
Background & Context
The Israel-Hamas war that began in 2023 has displaced most of Gaza’s two-million-plus residents, forcing them into tented shelters and damaged buildings in Gaza City and Khan Younis. A 2019 UNFPA survey found that nearly two-thirds of married women in Gaza had experienced domestic abuse. The war’s destruction of health, legal, and education infrastructure has further eroded protective mechanisms for women and girls.
Official Statements & Responses
UNFPA officials describe the situation as a “severe escalation” of GBV, attributing it to “overcrowded, unsafe and undignified” living conditions, scarcity of food and hygiene supplies, and the lack of private spaces in camps. The agency notes that Israel’s restriction of 37 aid groups that did not comply with its registration law has weakened safeguards intended to prevent sexual exploitation and abuse.
The United Nations has not provided a direct response to specific allegations of misconduct by Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) soldiers at checkpoints, and the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories has not commented on reported safeguards.
Criticism & Opposition
Human-rights observers and aid organizations have condemned Israel’s evacuation orders and the “parallel aid distribution system” it seeks to impose, arguing that these policies uproot communities, exacerbate resource scarcity, and create environments where survival sex, forced marriage, and economic abuse can flourish. Blocked aid intensifies desperation, making women and girls more vulnerable to exploitation in exchange for food, medicine, or employment.
On-the-Ground Reports
Women interviewed in the camps recounted multiple forms of abuse:
- A woman was harassed by a young man in a restroom and confronted him before he fled.
- A disabled girl disappeared for seven hours and returned pregnant after being raped; the perpetrator remains unidentified.
- Families married off daughters as young as 14 in exchange for bags of flour, described as “survival marriage.”
- A mother was forced to marry her husband’s brother after being told her husband was “martyred,” later learning he was alive.
- Reports also emerged of IDF soldiers threatening to kill children at checkpoints and verbally abusing women, though the women speaking at the center did not claim personal experience of such abuse.
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
UNFPA reports do not mention Hamas involvement in sexual exploitation, despite other investigations documenting allegations that Hamas members and some aid workers have exploited women and children for basic necessities. The omission creates a gap in understanding the full range of actors contributing to GBV in Gaza. Additionally, while UNFPA cites a dramatic rise in forced marriages, precise baseline figures for the previous quarter are not disclosed, limiting verification of the increase’s magnitude.
*This article synthesizes information from United Nations Population Fund reports, statements from UN officials, and on-the-ground testimonies reported by the Jerusalem Post, New York Post, and BBC.*