UNRWA Allegations Threaten to Worsen Conditions for Menstruating Women in Gaza

A warehouse full of UNRWA aid was destroyed amid Israel-Hamas fighting in 2011. (Flickr)

Women in Gaza continue to face a shortage of critical aid in the form of menstrual products amid the Israel-Hamas War, aid that may cease entirely by the end of the month according to a UNRWA statement released on February 10. The scarcity has already forced Gazan civilians to improvise creative and potentially dangerous ways to address their feminine hygiene.

The Israeli government recently accused 12 employees of UNRWA of involvement in the Hamas attacks of October 7. UNRWA, whose 13,000 employees make it the largest aid organization in Gaza, reports that it has since seen its biggest donors, including the U.S., Germany, and the EU, revoke their financial support.

According to UNICEF, aid in Gaza has always been essential and yet inadequate, a problem the ongoing war has greatly exaggerated. The number of aid trucks allowed to enter per day has reduced by an average of 80 percent as of February 1 even though 2 million Gazans are now dependent on UN aid. A ruling from the International Court of Justice on January 26 demanded that Israel take immediate action to improve the supply of humanitarian aid into Gaza and submit a progress report by February 23, reported the Guardian.

Israel has only opened two new border crossings to the flow of humanitarian aid thus far, both of which are subject to intensive security checks. Claiming the aid would only empower Hamas, young Israelis have recently bombed and blockaded the preexisting crossing at Rafa with minimal intervention from the Israeli military. These attacks have further inhibited the passage of UN trucks, according to the Washington Post.

The UN reported that at least 690,000 menstruating women and girls are at risk due to limited menstrual supplies in addition to insufficient access to water, hygiene, and privacy. With 1.9 million Gazans internally displaced—about a million in Rafa alone—there is an increasing reliance on tents for shelter and survival, wrote Human Rights Watch. Women are reporting that they have not showered in weeks. One toilet per 486 people does not meet their demand. Some women have resorted to cutting out small pieces of these tents as substitutes for period products, says Actionaid International.

Other women have been taking norethisterone tablets, medication meant to alleviate severe menstrual bleeding, endometriosis, and painful periods, in order to avoid menstruating, according to Al Jazeera. The possible side effects of irregular vaginal bleeding, nausea, changes to the menstrual cycle, dizziness, and mood swings are considered worth the risk by women with little other choice.

“We’re suffering from being hungry, from being bombed, we are suffering from being displaced. Now we’re suffering also because there’s no pads,” said Bisan Owda, a Gazan reporter, via her Instagram. “Women now are simply exposed to psychological and physical health risks because there’s no products to use during their periods.”

The health repercussions of these extreme conditions, especially due to lack of operational medical care, pose significant dangers. Women and girls are at risk of reproductive and urinary tract infections in addition to exacerbated mental health issues, says NPR. The more than 180 women who give birth every day are of particular concern, wrote the Palestine Chronicle. Without funding, UNRWA will be unable to help the Gazan women who continue to suffer under these fatal circumstances.