War in Gaza

The Crisis

The crisis in Gaza has reached catastrophic levels. More than 60,000 people in Gaza have been killed since Israeli attacks on Gaza began after October 7, 2023—nearly half of whom are women and girls. Israel’s destruction of schools, hospitals, homes, farms, bakeries, and water and sanitation facilities has resulted in the loss of 70% of Gaza’s infrastructure. 1.9 million people—or 90 percent of the population of Gaza—have been displaced by the war.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has severely restricted the delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza—including food and medical supplies—causing widespread food insecurity and hunger. In March 2025, Israel imposed a total blockade of aid into Gaza, while backing a new US private entity, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF), to distribute aid from just four sites.

The result has been devastating. Nearly 1400 people have been killed by IDF and GHF forces while attempting to collect aid, including women and girls. Famine and starvation are now widespread. Women and girls face acute risks. More than 500,000 women in Gaza are food insecure. Women are eating last and least to keep their loved ones alive; malnourished mothers are unable to produce breastmilk to feed starving infants; and pregnant women face increased risks of pregnancy complications, miscarriage, and stillbirth.

The UN Commission of Inquiry into the Occupied Palestinian Territory has deemed many of these acts to be war crimes and crimes against humanity. Multiple international law experts have determined that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to crimes of extermination and acts of genocide against the Palestinian people, while the UN Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls states that Israel’s targeting of Palestinian women and girls constitutes a “femi-genocide.”

The impacts of starvation, violence, and destruction in Gaza will be felt by Palestinian women and girls for generations. These consequences are compounded by the continued statelessness of Palestinians, which denies them their human right to a nationality, results in other wide-ranging rights violations, and exacerbates their vulnerability to violence.

Our Priorities

The people of Gaza cannot wait another moment—the international community must act now. The Women’s Refugee Commission calls for:

• An immediate, permanent, and unconditional ceasefire to prevent further loss of life and human suffering.
• All parties to abide by their obligations under international law, including an end to the targeting of civilians, civilian infrastructure, and humanitarian actors, and to detaining civilians without charge.
• The release of all hostages.
• Israel to immediately lift restrictions on aid entering Gaza, and all parties to ensure full, safe, and unimpeded humanitarian access across Gaza. Humanitarian agencies must urgently prioritize a scale-up of malnutrition screening and treatment, prioritizing pregnant and breastfeeding women, infants, and children, and ensure targeted, safe, and accessible aid delivery for women and girls.
• The international community must demand an end to militarized distributions, and ensure that humanitarian efforts are led by humanitarians and governed by humanitarian principles of impartiality, neutrality, humanity, and independence.
• All donors to restore and increase funding to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and support its continued and vital operations without interruption. We call on Israel to repeal legislation banning UNRWA.
• Israel’s compliance with all provisional measures ordered by the ICJ to prevent genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
• All UN Member States to uphold their obligations to prevent genocide, including with respect to supplying arms.
• All states and the international community to take urgent action to achieve an end to Palestinians’ stateless status and to realize Palestinians’ right to self-determination and to a nationality.

WRC’s Advocacy on the Israel-Gaza Crisis

WRC is committed to ensuring the needs and rights of those displaced and impacted by the Israel-Gaza crisis are protected. Below is a list of WRC’s advocacy work during this crisis.