One Woman in Gaza

by Moh Telbani

Women in Gaza had a lot of dreams, which were lost during the war. They were assigned instead a tough task: spending their days cleaning, trying to obtain decent food and a bottle of pure water, and searching for a safe place to move to. 

Repeated displacements have prevented Gazan women from being able to maintain their privacy, with the crowding and lack of bathrooms; this also has led to chaos in their daily lives and affected their psychological health. The United Nations confirmed in March that 180 babies have been born in the Gaza strip each day during the war, and that more than 52,000 pregnant women in Gaza were at risk due to the collapse of the healthcare system. This led to a tripling of the abortion rate. Pregnant and breastfeeding women in Gaza are facing severe malnutrition, which in its turn is affecting their children.

Nada is 27 years old. She was a project coordinator at an organization for the protection of women and children in Gaza, taking care of about 70 people with various diseases and health conditions, helping them organize their lives and maintain a healthy lifestyle. She was also pursuing her master’s degree in epidemiology. 

On October 7, Nada was living with her family in a recently built six-story building in Jabaliba, in North Gaza. They were happy there, and comfortable, planning a vacation to Egypt in March. Nada had completed the first part of her research. Her father was happy for her, saying, “This is my daughter who completed the master’s degree.”

But she did not finish the master’s degree, and her father did not survive, he was murdered. May God bless him.