Menstrual Hygiene Crisis Grips Gaza as Conflict Takes Toll on Essential Supplies

As the conflict between Hamas and Israel persists, women in Gaza face an additional layer of hardship: the scarcity of menstrual pads, running water, and basic hygiene. Since the conflict escalated in October, essential items, including food and medical aid, have become increasingly difficult to find in Gaza.

The shortage of menstrual pads is attributed to Israel’s near-total siege of Gaza, initiated in response to a deadly attack by Hamas militants on October 7. Pads sporadically appear in stores but are often sold at five to six times their normal price, putting them out of reach for many impoverished and unemployed households.

The United Nations estimates that around 700,000 women and girls in Gaza lack access to basic hygiene products such as pads, toilet paper, running water, and toilets. This dire situation exposes them to the risk of reproductive and urinary tract infections, further exacerbating the existing humanitarian crisis.

Women are resorting to extreme measures to cope with the shortage. Some are taking pills to halt their menstrual cycles, while others, unable to find pills or facing health constraints, use improvised alternatives like old clothes, towels, or tent corners as makeshift pads.

The lack of running water and toilets compounds the challenge. Israel’s bombardment and evacuation orders have displaced over 85% of Gaza’s population, leaving women with little privacy and inadequate bathroom facilities. Mass displacement has led to overcrowded conditions in U.N.-run schools, where multiple families share a single bathroom.

Aid, though trickling in, is insufficient to meet the overwhelming needs of the population. The World Health Organization reports a collapse of the health system, contributing to the spread of diseases in crowded shelters. Only a fraction of the necessary aid enters Gaza, with the territory at risk of famine, according to the UN.

While UNICEF has distributed over 41,000 hygiene kits, including pads, there remains a significant shortfall. Nearly 70 trucks carrying essential items, including hygiene kits, are stuck at border crossings, awaiting Israeli clearance.

In this dire situation, women in Gaza face not only the physical challenges of war but also the neglect of their basic needs, including menstrual hygiene, adding an extra layer of hardship to an already desperate humanitarian crisis.

Re-reported from the article originally published in The npr