Palestinian foreign ministry: Palestinian women bear the greatest burden of genocide and crimes against humanity
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry on Saturday urged the international community to ensure the protection of Palestinian women, investigate the systematic violence against them, and hold the Zionist occupation accountable for its “crimes and violations.”
“Palestinian woman stands at the heart of the struggle for survival, bearing the greatest burden of genocide, crimes against humanity, and attempts at forced displacement and ethnic cleansing,” the ministry said in a statement on International Women’s Day.
The ministry added that over 12,298 women have been martyred and thousands more displaced during the 519 days of the Zionist occupation’s genocidal war on Gaza. Additionally, 21 Palestinian women are currently held in “harsh and inhumane conditions in Israeli prisons, where they endure torture, solitary confinement, and medical neglect.”
“The Israeli genocide in Gaza has left 2,000 women and girls permanently disabled due to amputations, with 162 women suffering from contagious diseases, while dozens more have been tortured in detention centers,” the head of the Gaza government’s media office, Salama Maarouf, said in a statement.
Maarouf emphasized the devastating impact of the occupation’s violence on Gazan women, with 13,901 women widowed and left to support their families alone, 17,000 mothers grieving the loss of their children, and 50,000 pregnant women who lost their babies under inhumane conditions.
The Government Media Office further noted that the Zionist occupation forces have killed 24 female Palestinian journalists during their genocidal war on Gaza, adding that these crimes occurred before the “free world, which claims to advocate for women’s rights and the defence of journalists.”
Maarouf also accused the international community of “failing to take substantial action,” saying that “many responses have been limited to statements of condemnation,” which he deemed “hypocritical and inadequate.”
According to the Palestinian Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission and the Palestinian Prisoners Society, the occupation forces have since Oct. 2023 arrested at least 490 Palestinian women from Gaza, the West Bank, and Jerusalem. These arrests include women from all walks of life—at least 25 university students, six journalists, lawyers, mothers, wives of martyrs, and public figures such as parliamentarian Khalida Jarrar.
“We have clear indications that there are a large number of female prisoners who were arrested from Gaza, who are being subject to the severe crime of enforced disappearances, with the occupation refusing to disclose their identities, the number of women being held, and the location of where they are being held,” the president of the Palestinian Prisoners Association said in a statement.
According to testimonies of liberated Palestinian women, female Palestinian detainees currently in the occupation’s custody are enduring the most violent and dangerous period in the history of the prisoners’ movement. They are facing a wide array of severe violations that have also been practiced against men. These violations include rape, sexual, physical, and psychological assault, enforced starvation, and deprivation of female-related necessities, among many other things.
Amid the escalating offensive in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian women are enduring harsh conditions after being forced to flee their homes under the threat of occupation’s gunfire. They live now in overcrowded shelters under dire humanitarian conditions, often without privacy.
Fatiha Shihada, a displaced Palestinian woman, told Anadolu news agency that she was forced to flee her home in the Jenin refugee camp under the threat of occupation’s gunfire, adding that her life has been difficult since she left her home about 40 days ago.
Nihada Al-Jundi, another displaced woman from the Nur Shams camp, said, “The hardest moment of my life was the first day of iftar during Ramadan. Tears streamed down from me, my husband, and my daughter,” she said.
“Every woman and homemaker experiences sadness in displacement. Nothing can replace the home that once embraced us. Now we are far from our belongings, our lives, and our privacy,” she added.
According to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), approximately 40,000 Palestinians have been displaced from camps in the northern West Bank amid the ongoing Zionist aggression.
