Women now head nearly one in four households in Gaza, double the pre-October 2023 rate, according to UN Women.
The agency estimates that 86,290 households are headed by women, including widows and those whose husbands are missing, detained, severely injured or forcibly disappeared.
UN Women says women-headed households face greater hardship, with higher levels of displacement, shelter loss and safety concerns.
Despite the October 2025 ceasefire, six women and girls have been killed every week in Gaza, according to the agency.
Women now head nearly one in four households in Gaza as the war tears families apart and reshapes household structures, according to a new UN Women data brief.
The agency said an estimated 86,290 households in Gaza are now headed by women, double the pre-October 2023 rate of one in nine. These include widows and women whose husbands are missing, detained, severely injured, forcibly disappeared or whose fate remains unknown, UN Women said.
“The pain and suffering extend far beyond the loss of a husband, father, or loved one,” said Moez Doraid, UN Women regional director for the Arab States. “Women heading households in Gaza shoulder the full responsibility of supporting, protecting, and providing for their families under catastrophic conditions.”
With tens of thousands of Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrikes and ground operations, women heading households are left to make critical decisions alone, including how to secure food and shelter, obtain humanitarian assistance, manage scarce resources and care for their families, the agency said.
UN Women said these pressures were being intensified by continued bombardment, restrictions on humanitarian access and severe shortages of safe water, food, hygiene supplies and lifesaving services.
The brief found that women-headed households face greater hardship than male-headed households. Sixty-eight per cent lack adequate shelter, compared with 55 per cent of male-headed households, according to UN Women.
Women heading households are also more likely to have had their homes damaged or destroyed, at 74 per cent compared with 67 per cent of male-headed households. They have been displaced an average of eight times since October 2023, compared with seven times for male-headed households, the agency said.
Two-thirds of women-headed households urgently need cash assistance for survival, UN Women said. Nearly one in five women heading households reported concerns about their safety and protection, compared with one in 12 women living in male-headed households, it added.
Despite the October 2025 ceasefire, Palestinians continue to be killed in Gaza, the agency said. UN Women said the latest available data showed that 246 women and girls, including 137 women and 109 girls, had been killed between the ceasefire and 28 July 2026. This is equivalent to six women and girls killed every week.
UN Women called for the ceasefire to be fully implemented, for international law to be upheld and for humanitarian assistance to reach those in need at scale and without obstruction.
The agency said aid must be built around the needs of women and girls, including those heading households, so they are “seen, counted, empowered, and supported”.