06 September 2024

Almost ninety percent of the population of Gaza – 1.9 million people – have been displaced at least once by evacuation orders issued by Israeli Defense Forces, searching for something that does not exist: safety.

The woman and her family pictured above have chosen to stay in what remains of their destroyed home, so hopeless is the situation. They, like so many others in the following photos, live on a knife edge.

“The heart is fatigued, the will is broken, and the soul no longer desires anything.”
– A woman displaced seven times with her children and sick husband in Gaza
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Rahaf was injured while fleeing her home. In the past 11 months, more than 40,700 people have been killed in Gaza and 94,200 have been injured. Rahaf and her family live in a tent in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis.
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Across Gaza, 43,580 pregnant women are displaced.
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Continuous evacuation orders make it difficult to access health care, imperiling pregnant women.
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In August 2024 alone, Israeli Defense Forces issued 16 evacuation orders – on average, one every two days.
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More than 88 per cent of Gaza has been affected by evacuation orders, forcing residents into overcrowded, polluted and unsafe areas with limited services. Above, an entire residential block in Khan Younis destroyed by Israeli strikes.
“My family and I are taking down our tent and packing our belongings for the second time this August, after being forced to move seven times since October. When will this ever end?”
– Leman, 42
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Hadeel, 10, and her mother carry water and blankets as they are displaced from Deir Al Balah.
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A woman carries diapers as she is displaced from Khan Younis.
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Deir al-Balah was subjected to evacuation orders in August 2024.
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Duaa, seven months pregnant, pictured with her children outside their tent in Mawasi, Rafah.
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Um Mohammad, 88, stands outside her tent in Rafah. She says she is exhausted from repeated displacement.
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Duaa attempts to make a comfortable area for her three children among rubble in Gaza City. Her youngest, 7-month-old Jourie, was born during the war.
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Duaa’s 6-year-old twin girls, Judy and Jude, who have moved multiple times in the last 10 months, struggle to find enough to eat.
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Joan, 3, lives in a displacement camp in Gaza City. Nearly 9 out of 10 children in Gaza lack essential nutrients.
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An estimated 46,300 pregnant women in Gaza are experiencing crisis levels of hunger. More than 17,000 pregnant women are on the verge of famine, while nearly 11,000 pregnant women are already in famine.
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Iman, 27, who is pregnant and suffering from malnutrition, lives with her daughters, Ghina and Ruba, in a tent in the Rafah area.
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Every day is a struggle to find enough food – or the means with which to cook it.

The war in Gaza has rendered pregnancy unsafe for women. Ongoing hostilities, the repeated evacuation orders, a breakdown in public order and safety, and the challenges of reaching people in need are preventing an effective humanitarian response.

UNFPA and partners continue to provide support despite the insurmountable circumstances, but the only way to ensure that people have access to the basics to survive – food, water, health services and safe shelter – is with an immediate and sustained ceasefire.

With the health care system under repeated attack, today there is not a single fully functioning hospital in Gaza. A lack of fuel and medicines, as well as the deaths and detention of health care workers, have further weakened the delivery of critical services. A shocking 500 health workers have been killed since the beginning of the war, making Gaza the most dangerous place to be a health worker. 

With the health system in tatters, some nurses and doctors are volunteering to provide primary medical services from within displacement tents, including care for pregnant and postpartum women.

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Nurse Jenin in Khan Younis provides free services for pregnant women and children from a tent she set up in the Mawasi displacement site.

UNFPA’s efforts in Gaza include deploying six mobile maternal health units, which provide emergency obstetric care; deploying additional midwives to essential UNRWA clinics; supporting survivors of gender-based violence; and distributing life-saving equipment and supplies to the few hospitals that remain partially operational.

A call to action

“From day one of the war in Gaza, UNFPA has been fully committed to serving women and girls, under very difficult circumstances, to ensure that every child birth in Gaza is safe and that women are protected from any form of gender-based violence,” Peninnah T. Kyoyagala, Head of the UNFPA Office in Gaza, has said. “However, the situation continues to deteriorate as a result of the continuous evacuation orders, which have rendered many health facilities inaccessible. This catastrophic situation must end. The war must end now and not tomorrow.” 

You can help provide emergency health care services to pregnant women, new mothers and newborns and protection services to women at risk of violence by supporting UNFPA in Gaza here.

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