The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached catastrophic proportions.

Among Gaza’s population of 2.2 million people, more than 1.7 million have been displaced by the conflict. The aid that has entered Gaza since the beginning of a humanitarian pause on 24 November barely registers against the dire needs for food, water, fuel, life-saving medicines and supplies, sanitation and adequate shelter. 

“More aid is urgently needed in Gaza to save lives and stem the torrent of human suffering,” said UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem in remarks to the UN Security Council. “Unimpeded access of humanitarian workers and of supplies, including sexual and reproductive health services, is a matter of life and death for women and girls.”

Among Gaza’s population, more than 540,000 people – about one in four – are women and girls of reproductive age. An estimated 5,500 women are due to give birth within the next 30 days, which will result in more than 180 deliveries every day. An estimated 840 women may experience pregnancy or birth-related complications. With hospitals overwhelmed by casualties and lacking essential fuel, medicines and basic supplies, many people will be cut off from safe delivery services.

UNFPA is focused on getting life-saving reproductive health supplies into Gaza. So far it has delivered five truckloads of reproductive health kits, containing pharmaceuticals, equipment and supplies for emergency obstetric and neonatal care, including anaesthetics for use during Caesarean sections. UNFPA is also distributing clean delivery kits to improve the hygienic conditions for births, wherever they may occur, as well as kits for women who have recently given birth.

With 80 per cent of the population in Gaza displaced, the risk of gender-based violence has also increased exponentially for women and girls who are on the move or seeking refuge in overcrowded shelters, where conditions are increasingly distressing.

In the West Bank, where the violence is spilling over, around 73,000 women are currently pregnant, with more than 8,100 expected to give birth in the next month. 

The Ministry of Health in the West Bank has redeployed midwives from hospitals to Safe Motherhood Emergency Centres supported by UNFPA, ensuring that midwives are accessible in every community. In addition, online support systems and referral services are helping to ensure women’s continued access to sexual and reproductive health care, while reproductive health kits have been delivered to the Ministry of Health for distribution to hospitals, among other initiatives.

UNFPA condemns the violence in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories and echoes the UN Secretary-General’s call for a full humanitarian ceasefire, for the immediate and unconditional release of hostages by Hamas, and for unimpeded access for humanitarian aid and workers within Gaza. 

Updated on 29 November 2023