Palestine’s population is currently facing a lack of almost every basic resource required for human survival, from clean drinking water to feminine hygiene products, there is a growing crisis in the region that does not look to be slowing down anytime soon.After the attacks headed by Hamas against Israel on October 7th 2023, Israel’s retaliatory strikes primarily on Gaza have produced a refugee crisis in Palestine. Of the roughly 2.2 million inhabitants of Gaza, some 1.9 million have been forced to flee the city due to the air and ground campaigns begun by the IDF (Israel Defence Forces). Of these 1.9 million refugees, a large portion have been displaced to the city of Rafah, a city on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip. To house these refugees, so-called ‘tent-cities’ have been erected in rapid fashion, covering an area of roughly 27.7 million square feet. Numerous reports from observers have stated that the conditions are extremely overcrowded, the area used to house this influx of refugees is simply not fit to cater to so many people.
Naturally, as a result of this overpopulation, there are shortages of almost every conceivable resource necessary for basic human needs. From undrinkable water to a lack of basic first aid equipment, the refugees in the Gaza Strip are facing a daunting future. As the IDF’s efforts to clear Gaza of Hamas fighters continues, eyes are turning southward to Rafah and the refugees housed there, without more intervention the crisis in Palestine will only grow.
One of the less discussed issues facing the Palestinian refugees is the lack of sanitary products for the menstruating population of the refugees. According to the United Nations Population Fund, roughly 690,000 menstruating women and adolescents have been displaced since the start of the Israeli intervention in Gaza. If access to necessities such as food and water has been an extremely difficult task, then the acquisition of feminine hygiene products could be considered near impossible. Many refugees have been forced to resort to using whatever rudimentary solutions they can to deal with the periods in which they are menstruating. Given that there are almost 700,000 people in the tent-city in Rafah facing the same issue, it is clear that more needs to be done in order to support the women facing these issues.
In 2023, it was recorded that 99% of the population living in the Gaza Strip were Muslim. The hijab is an integral part of Islam, it is viewed as a method of demonstrating one’s modesty and faith to Islam and therefore is a very important article of clothing for all Muslim women. There are numerous reports of women being forced to use their headscarves as an alternative to sanitary products. This demonstrates how dire the issue is for the refugees in Rafah’s tent-city. Given that the Hijab is such an important part of Islam, when considering the values that Muslims believe wearing a hijab promotes, it is extremely demoralising for the already down-trodden refugee population to have to use their hijabs as a stand-in for sanitary products.
Hijabs are not the only solution that has been thought up, another common resolution to the issue of periods comes in the form of cutting pieces of tent fabric from the very tents that refugees are living in in order to use the fabric as a stand-in for sanitary products.
Those facing their postpartum period are also facing numerous challenges in these hastily erected tent-cities. There are multiple reports of cases of bacterial infections amongst women in their postpartum period due to the lack of hygienic means to deal with their bleeding, such infections do not help when the hospital infrastructure in Palestine, especially in Gaza has been seriously damaged by strikes from the IDF. There are set to be over 8000 new births in Palestine alone in February, aid groups such as United Nations Population Fund have begun efforts to deliver aid kits to pregnant women across the Gaza strip by delivering aid packages to several hospitals throughout Palestine.
This problem will only continue to grow, it is estimated that almost 180 babies are being born a day in the Gaza Strip, not only are these babies being born into an active war zone, in which seemingly civilians are an acceptable form of collateral from IDF strikes, some 20,000 Palestinians are confirmed to have lost their lives to IDF strikes on the city since actions began in October. These mothers are facing extreme difficulties in maintaining their health after giving birth. Alongside the immense stress that labour places on the body, further complications such as the bacterial infections caused by the lack of access to hygiene products compounds on the issues of overcrowding in the remaining hospitals in Palestine. According to the World Health Organisation, by January 3rd, only 13 of the 36 hospitals in Palestine could be considered partially functional’, due to the destruction of many of the hospitals throughout the Gaza strip, those hospitals that can still function are facing massive issues in regard to overcrowding, and access to the fundamental requirements of a hospital, namely food, water, medicine and electricity.
Although there has been some aid delivered to women facing issues in regard to their menstrual cycle, the number helped is miniscule in comparison to the total number of women affected by the lack of access to sanitary products. Those without access to hygienic means of dealing with periods are now facing the prospect of developing reproductive and urinary tract infections. It does not need to be said that this will only worsen the already desperate situation in regard to medical care in the region. Moreover, once ill with something such as a urinary tract infection, if left untreated sepsis can develop and subsequently become a life-threatening illness if left unchecked and untreated.
The lack of clean drinking water has exacerbated these issues further, according to observers, refugees have been rationing water since feeling the destruction in Gaza after IDF action in the city. People have been drinking as little as one litre of water per day in order to preserve their finite supply of water that they use to drink, cook and clean with. Often left without any other choice, refugees have resorted to drinking dirty groundwater to ensure that they at least remain alive. The alternative for many in the tent-city of Rafah is to die of thirst. This has led to an outbreak of a number of illnesses, including cholera. Pairing this with the clear shortage of feminine hygiene products is leading to a devastating man-made humanitarian crisis on a scale not seen for decades.
Of present, there is seemingly no solution on the horizon for those facing these issues, although just a small part of the overall problem for Palestinian refugees, this topic should certainly not be ignored. This is particularly important when discussing the futures of the children being born into this crisis and the ramifications that this start to life will have on the futures of Palestinian women and their newborns as they tackle this issue of a lack of hygiene products.
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