Gaza City reoccupation threatens 50% of ActionAid local partners and puts starving pregnant women at extreme risk.
ActionAid is gravely alarmed by the planned reoccupation of Gaza City, which threatens to devastate communities, silence local civil society organisations, and endanger the lives of countless civilians, particularly pregnant women already living in severe famine conditions.
More than half of ActionAid’s local partners are based in Gaza City and remain determined to continue their lifesaving work for as long as conditions allow. Yet, with the offensive escalating, their ability to stay is rapidly diminishing.
One partner organisation is the Palestinian Development Women Studies Association (PDWSA), which provides psychosocial protection and support services for women and girls who have survived violence, while also leading emergency response efforts.
Sahar, the head of PDWSA, said: “We have made the decision to stay in Gaza City. Staying in Gaza City is the only option available for us now. We have no other options. Gaza is our land, our home, our houses, our place. It is very difficult for us to imagine Gaza destroyed and gone. Our presence is important to strengthen the steadfastness of the people, and for them to see us present among them.”
But conditions are deteriorating by the hour, with many members of staff facing a harrowing reality.
PDWSA staff member Mohammad Al Madhon said: “Where I live in Gaza City, it is subjected to systematic destruction carried out by the occupying army as part of the ongoing war of extermination. The occupation is using remotely detonated “robots,” in addition to heavy gunfire from quadcopter drones targeting anyone who moves, along with random artillery shelling that strikes our homes and the surrounding area around the clock.
“We tried to endure and remain in our homes, but as bombardment intensified, water was cut off, and food became nearly impossible to find, we were forced to search for another place to flee. We have been looking for a place in the central or southern parts of the Strip, but the immense population density there and the absence of empty spaces prevented that. On top of this, the insane rise in the prices of land and houses available for rent left us with no choice. Therefore, alongside many other families, we decided to stay in Gaza City with no safe alternative.”
The reoccupation and bombardment of Gaza City are not only threatening the survival of local organisations and staff, but also endangering the lives of pregnant women ActionAid supports through its partners.
Pregnant women trapped in displacement camps face catastrophic risks. Nour, 33, who is seven months pregnant, has been displaced from Beit Hanoun to Gaza City.
Nour says: “Displacement has caused me many problems during pregnancy. I have had to walk long distances with no transport, leaving me exhausted. The famine has left me severely malnourished, and my unborn baby has stopped growing due to lack of food.”
Hanan, a mother of four whose husband has been missing for five months, explained: “I was pregnant while displaced and suffering from malnutrition. My pregnancy was very difficult, and my baby’s growth was very small, with weak blood pressure and severe infections.”
These stories are just a glimpse of the crisis unfolding in Gaza City, where famine, bombardment, and forced displacement are compounding to create an unbearable situation for families, especially women and children.
ActionAid urgently demands an immediate and permanent ceasefire alongside the prevention of any reoccupation of Gaza City. International governments must step up and ensure the opening of safe humanitarian corridors to allow aid delivery with the immediate, unimpeded access to food, water, medical care, and shelter for those most at risk.
The world cannot stand by as Gaza City faces total and complete destruction, and its people endure starvation. Without urgent international action, countless lives, born and unborn, will be lost.