For decades, the people of Gaza have endured repeated conflicts, and since 2007, this situation has been worsened by a strict blockade of 18 years. This besiegement has affected the economy, essential infrastructure, and restricted citizens’ freedom to travel outside Gaza, with only limited types of goods and people allowed through Israeli-controlled crossings. Before the latest conflict of 2023, the humanitarian situation in Gaza was marked by aid dependency, frequent power and fuel shortages, food and water insecurity, and a scarcity of essential medicines. This situation has since severely worsened for the people of Gaza. The Human Rights Council (HRC) released a report on Sept 16, 2025, stating that the actions by Israel against the people of Gaza had amounted to genocide. The current conflict has heightened health vulnerabilities for women and girls, with war injuries overwhelming remaining health services and maternal and reproductive health care (MRH) being marginalised. In this Insight, we examine the health challenges faced by women and girls living in Gaza today. Due to difficulties in accessing and verifying data caused by the war, the data we report have been obtained from non-governmental organisations, multilateral agencies, the media, and the lived experiences of the lead and second authors as medical practitioners in Gaza. We emphasise that quick, short-term emergency responses are insufficient to address the scale and severity of damage to women’s health services.
Continue reading at thelancet.com/journals/lanogw/article/PIIS3050-5038(26)00015-4/abstract