Cairo/Geneva/New York – Women reportedly head nearly one in four households in Gaza – an estimated 86,290 households – which is double the pre-October 2023 rate of one in nine, according to a new data brief released today by UN Women. This includes widows and women whose husbands are missing, detained, severely injured, forcibly disappeared, or whose fate remains unknown.
“The pain and suffering extend far beyond the loss of a husband, father, or loved one. Women heading households in Gaza shoulder the full responsibility of supporting, protecting, and providing for their families under catastrophic conditions”, said Moez Doraid, UN Women Regional Director for the Arab States.
With tens of thousands of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes and ground operations, women heading households are left to make critical decisions alone – including how to secure food and shelter, obtain humanitarian assistance, manage scarce resources, and care for their families. This is compounded by inequalities that can restrict women’s access to income, property, documentation, services, and decision-making.
Continued bombardment, restrictions on humanitarian access, and severe shortages of safe water, food, hygiene supplies, and lifesaving services are intensifying these pressures, the brief finds.
Women-headed households in Gaza experience even greater hardship than male-headed households. Sixty-eight per cent lack adequate shelter, compared with 55 per cent of male-headed households. Women heading households are also more likely to have had their homes damaged or destroyed – 74 per cent compared with 67 per cent – and have been displaced more frequently, fleeing an average of eight times since October 2023, compared with seven times for male-headed households.
The financial pressure on women heading households is immense. Two thirds of women-headed households urgently need cash assistance for survival. Women heading households are more likely to report safety and protection concerns. Nearly one in five women heading households reports concerns about their safety and protection, compared with one in 12 women living in male-headed households.
“Recognizing and responding to the realities faced by all women-headed households are essential to ensuring that women are seen, counted, empowered, and supported. The ceasefire must be implemented in full effect. Humanitarian assistance must reach those in need at scale and without obstruction, and built around the needs of women and girls – including those heading households”, said Doraid.
The killing of Palestinians in Gaza continues despite a ceasefire. Latest available data show that 246 women and girls have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire agreement came into effect in October 2025. This includes 137 women and 109 girls and is equivalent to six women and girls killed every week between October 2025 and 28 July 2026.
UN Women works on the ground in Gaza with women-led and women’s rights organizations, supporting their efforts to deliver life-saving assistance to those most in need. We call for the ceasefire in Gaza to be fully implemented, for international law to be upheld, and for accountability for violations, alongside the protection of women and girls.
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UN Women exists to advance women’s rights, gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. As the lead United Nations entity on gender equality, we shift laws, institutions, social norms and services to close the gender gap and build an equal world for all women and girls. We keep the rights of women and girls at the centre of global progress – always, everywhere. Because gender equality is not just what we do. It is who we are.
