Palestine is currently facing an unprecedented crisis, marked by Israeli brutal war, genocide, and ethnic cleansing targeting its people. These atrocities are taking place under the shadow of imperialism and Israeli arrogance, reflecting the grave human rights violations inflicted on the Palestinian population.
This genocidal war is the deadliest and most violent in the history of the Palestinian people since 1948. Over a year has passed since it began, during which a massive number of martyrs, wounded, and injured have fallen, including women, children, and the elderly. The number of martyrs this year has reached 43,374, including 11,815 women and 17,889 children. Additionally, there are approximately 10,000 missing persons under the rubble, among them 4,700 women and children.
This makes women and children among the most affected groups by this war, which has destroyed the future of coming generations and systematically targeted Palestinian women, considering them as the bearers and nurturers of future generations.
Palestinian women are subjected to oppression and violence in all its forms, including killing, forced displacement, and denial of healthcare, education, and the right to live with dignity. This is further intensified by imprisonment and the severe mistreatment of Palestinian female detainees. From the very first moment of their arrest, Palestinian female prisoners are subjected to the harshest forms of persecution and physical and psychological violence, including intimidation, harsh interrogation, strip searches, and the humiliation of their dignity.
Israel, in its recent war on Gaza, deliberately targeted the healthcare sector, striking the healthcare system, hospitals, doctors, ambulances, and even paramedics themselves. Neither humans nor stones were spared from the widespread destruction inflicted on the Gaza Strip. The number of injured due to Israeli bombardment exceeded 85,653, most of whom were women and children who lost one or more limbs.
In addition to the immense suffering endured by women and children, they face severe psychological crises, difficult health conditions, the spread of epidemics and diseases, water contamination, malnutrition, and a lack of sanitary pads for women. Pregnant women, in particular, suffer from the absence of safe health conditions, often giving birth in the streets or public parks in full view of everyone, without any medical care or respect for their privacy.
As a result, many other women are forced to resort to contraception methods, and in some cases, even methods to suppress their menstrual cycles, to avoid facing the same circumstances. Moreover, Israel, in its relentless war on the Gaza Strip, has systematically attacked the educational system, leading to the suspension of education in Gaza for over a year. Schools, universities, and infrastructure have been entirely destroyed, and the remaining schools have been repurposed as shelters for displaced families. Furthermore, the Zionist entity has deliberately targeted children and women, bombing and burning them within these shelters while the world watches.
As for daily life in the besieged Gaza Strip, it is extremely difficult for women. All aspects of life have been destroyed through the cutting off of water, food, medicine, and fuel. Women have been forced to cook food using firewood, and they have become completely unable to meet their own needs and those of their children. Furthermore, the Israeli entity’s destruction of buildings, streets, and the entire infrastructure, both in Gaza and in the West Bank cities of Jenin and Tulkarm, has caused severe overcrowding in tents, as well as a lack of healthcare services and medical care. This has made even the simplest tasks, such as accessing a bathroom, a challenging ordeal. Women are required to wait in long lines among men for hours, with no regard for their privacy.
The war has severely impacted agriculture, the most critical sector in Palestine. Farmers have been placed in extremely challenging conditions, unable to access their lands or harvest their crops due to continuous shelling. Moreover, toxic gases used during the war have contaminated the soil, destroying crops and rendering them unfit for consumption. In the West Bank, military checkpoints have further displaced people from their lands.
These lands have been subjected to extensive violations, including tree uprooting, confiscation, and the seizure of water sources. This has made irrigation impossible, leading to crop destruction. In addition, a significant portion of olive harvests has been stolen and confiscated. Forced displacement of women, children, and local residents from agricultural areas has become commonplace, alongside the establishment of settlement outposts on agricultural lands.
Most recently, Israel informed the United Nations of its decision to sever ties with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and to cancel the agreement between them. This action is expected to lead to a major humanitarian disaster in Gaza and the West Bank.
Through these actions, Israel flagrantly violates all humanitarian and international norms and laws, causing one of the greatest humanitarian catastrophes of our time.
Samah Abu Nima lives in Palestine. She is a member of the Union of Agricultural Work Committees (UAWC) and La Via Campesina. This article is an edited version of her speech in the “Feminist voices against imperialism” webinar, held by Capire and the World March of Women on November 7th, 2024.
