In Gaza, women-headed households face ‘impossible choices’ to survive
In war-torn Gaza, a growing number of women-headed households face “impossible decisions” every day, amid ongoing Israeli airstrikes and still-scarce resources, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.
According to new data from UN Women, nearly one in four households in Gaza is reportedly headed by a woman, an estimated 86,290 families.
This is double the number before Hamas-led terror attacks sparked the war with Israel in October 2023 and it follows the “widespread killings of Palestinians”, said Sofia Calltorp, Chief of Humanitarian Action with gender equality agency, UN Women:
“We have been speaking to widows and to women whose husbands are missing, detained, severely injured, forcibly displaced, or whose fate remains unknown. And we found a horrific amount of collective heartbreak…There are restrictions on humanitarian access, insecurity and continued Israeli bombardment. Women heading households are every day forced to make impossible decisions on how to allocate scarce resources, how to access assistance and simply ensure the survival of those in their care.”
Despite a provisional ceasefire agreement reached 11 months ago between Hamas fighters and Israel, 246 Palestinian women and girls have been killed in Gaza, by Israeli air bombardment and military ground operations.
UN Women’s Ms. Calltrop said that the victims include 18-year-old Raghad Ashour – killed in an Israeli strike on her way to a high school exam in Gaza City – and a six-year-old girl targeted in a helicopter strike in the Al Mawasi area of Khan Younis.
Sudan war: summary killings and sex attacks ongoing
To Sudan, where civilians continue to flee summary killings, sexual violence and more – all linked to the war, which is now well into its fourth year.
That’s according to UN deputy human rights chief, Awa Dabo, who condemned the sharp increase in hostilities in Blue Nile state, where paramilitary forces and their allies have announced the capture of Kurmuk and Geissan, along the border with Ethiopia.
In North Darfur, meanwhile, raids and drone strikes by the paramilitaries in the Dar Zaghawa area have triggered further displacement, Ms. Dabo told the Human Rights Council:
“As civilians flee conflict and insecurity, they continue to face summary killings, sexual violence, other physical violence, arbitrary detention, abductions and looting. Tensions between communities are deepening, fuelled by hate speech.”
Sudan’s Kordofan region remains the current epicentre of the conflict in Sudan.
The situation remains grave in the city of El Obeid, capital of North Kordofan, although there has been a sharp fall in the number of drone attacks, which the UN deputy rights chief attributed to international pressure.
In the first six months of 2026, the UN human rights office documented at least 1,120 civilian deaths from drone strikes in Sudan – a full 80 per cent of all civilian deaths recorded.
WHO warns tobacco use can (seriously) undermine fertility
Finally, smoking very likely makes it harder to have a baby, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday, as it cited data showing that women who smoke have a 40 per cent higher risk of infertility, compared to non-smokers.
Dr Kerstin Schotte is a Medical Officer with WHO’s Tobacco Free Initiative:
“For all people who plan pregnancies, our message is, ‘Stop smoking, improve your health, improve your reproductive health as well.’”
WHO defines infertility as failing to achieve pregnancy after 12 months or more of regular unprotected sex – it’s a condition that affects one in six people globally.
In a new report summarizing all the evidence on a link between tobacco smoking and infertility, the agency also noted that smoking affects men’s fertility too, as it harms sperm quality and sexual function.
WHO noted that second-hand smoke can affect fertility significantly as well, meaning that people can face possible reproductive risks even if they do not smoke.
In better news, the UN health agency stressed that quitting smoking can make a difference, with former women smokers showing a 25 per cent lower risk of infertility than tobacco users.
Daniel Johnson, UN News
Source of original article: United Nations (news.un.org). Photo credit: UN. The content of this article does not necessarily reflect the views or opinion of Global Diaspora News (www.globaldiasporanews.com).
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