Women’s rights organisations continue their work after ceasefire in Gaza

Ceasefire between Israel and Hamas

After more than 700 days of violence, Israel and Hamas have finally agreed to a ceasefire, the surviving hostages held by Hamas released, as well as around 2,000 Palestinians detained by Israel.

The brutal attacks by the Israeli government have stopped, and humanitarian organisations are preparing aid to be sent into Gaza. However, the ceasefire remains fragile, the families of the killed hostages are still waiting for their bodies to return and Israel’s illegal blockade is still in place.

The people remain cautious. Among them are our partner organisations Aisha and Women’s Affairs Center, who have relentlessly continued their work throughout the ongoing genocide, as they lived through it themselves.

“We can no longer trust anything until we see it with our own eyes. God willing, today will mark the end of the Palestinian genocide. The slaughter. Let this killing machine stop,” says Amal from Women’s Affairs Center.

“God willing, that it will mark the beginning of the end of a two-year ordeal. Our feelings today are mixed and overwhelming as we, the women of Gaza, live through this moment. Women who have endured two years of devastation, killing and destruction of stone, human and tree. A scale of pain beyond words,” says Reem from Aisha.

More than 60,000 people killed

Since October 7th 2023, over 60,000 people have been killed in Gaza, including over 9,000 women and 18,000 children. More than 90 percent of the Gaza strip has been destroyed or damaged and more than 1.9 million people have been displaced during the war—some as many as ten times.

“The forced evacuation of most of Gaza’s residents has left hundreds of families out in the open, in the streets and in alleyways, without shelter and without even the bare essentials of life,” says Amal.

In Gaza, survival has become an act of resistance. The repetition of loss, scarcity and getting back up has become the daily life for Palestinian women.

“Today we’re talking about more than 1 million women and girls in Gaza who are deprived of the most basic conditions for a dignified life—no shelter, no drinking water and no privacy,” says Amal and continues:

“What privacy can we seek when we have no other choice but to share tents with strangers, or worse—family members that we don’t feel comfortable or safe around?”

The work of women’s organisations

Across Gaza, women’s organisations like WAC and Aisha have become the backbone of humanitarian response. They are distributing food, providing psychosocial support, and helping displaced families despite being in the middle of chaos themselves.

“We began our work from the very first moments, knowing the massive number of women that are in need of our support,” says Amal from WAC. “We meet wounded women, women with disabilities, those suffering from chronic illnesses or cancer, survivors of war, survivors of violence and so many other women. Regardless of how we classify them, they are all seeking our interventions and waiting for us to stand by them as women’s organisations and as human beings.”

Aisha, who’s been a partner organisation to Kvinna till Kvinna since 2011, shifted their focus from advocacy to humanitarian aid and psychosocial support.

“Our main goal from day one was to stand with women and serve them directly on the ground,” says Reem from Aisha. “To be present in every moment as they faced immense challenges. Despite everything, these programmes continued throughout the war, even expanded, reaching tens of thousands of women with relief, protection, and care services, whether medical, psychological or social, including the provision of medicine and essential supplies.”

What unites both WAC and Aisha are their deep sense of purpose.

“What keeps us going is our belief in helping and serving women, children, and every Palestinian who needs us,” says Amal.

Living through a genocide

But for Gaza’s women’s organisations, this war has not only been a humanitarian emergency, but it has also been deeply personal. They have lived through the same fear, loss and displacements as the women and children they serve.

“Every single one of us has been displaced more than once. I have been displaced eight or nine times. Some of my colleagues have been displaced more than ten times. To be a working woman and a displaced person at all at once—it drains you completely,” says Amal.

Many have lost loved ones, colleagues, and countless of friends. Reem has lost six members of her team at Aisha, the last of whom only recently passed away in a bombing that injured many others.

“Sadly, we’ve lost some of our best and most dedicated colleagues. People who truly believed in humanitarian work. They were safe, peaceful civilians. They were young women who had worked with Aisha for years. The last incidents we experienced just happened just one meter away from where we were standing. It’s impossible to describe the shock and fear we felt in those moments,” says Reem, her voice breaking.

For Amal, the never-ending violence has made death lose its meaning.

“We no longer understand death here. It’s not a natural death. It turns us into objects, into numbers. As if we never existed. We’ve had nothing left but human remains. Bits and pieces here and there. People had to convince themselves that the parts that they find is part of the body of a loved one—just to bury our loved ones or what’s left of them.”

Rebuilding Gaza

As the ceasefire settles, Gaza’s women’s organisations are already preparing for what comes next: rebuilding lives, restoring dignity, and ensuring that women’s voices are at the centre of reconstruction.

“We know that this will take time. We understand that the bereavement is quite big, and the amount of loss is massive. However, we also believe that we are going to have a great future and all this pain will turn into giving,” says Reem.

“May women be present in in every effort to reconstruct and rebuild Gaza. But we must rebuild ourselves as women, as Palestinians, before rebuilding and reconstructing Gaza,” says Amal.

Kvinna till Kvinna’s emergency support in Gaza

Since the beginning of the war, Kvinna till Kvinna’s emergency fund has provided vital support to our partner organisations in Gaza. Through the fund, women’s organisations have been able to:

• Offer psychosocial support to women and children
• Distribute hygiene kits and dignity items to displaced families
• Maintain safe spaces for women facing violence
• Distribute tents for displaced families and building female toilets in camps
• Support staff and volunteers who themselves have been displaced

This flexible support allows our partner organisations like Aisha and WAC to continue their work—saving lives, upholding women’s rights and helping communities survive amid ongoing conflicts and catastrophes.