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Gaza -

The young Palestinian woman, Rawan Al-Sammouni, does not have paid leave on the occasion of International Women’s Day, which falls on the eighth of March, like her counterparts in countries around the world.

She works more than 12 hours a day to help her husband prepare pies and sell them to support the family.

Rawan shows her indifference to “International Women’s Day,” which she spends in a tent set up on the sidewalk of a street in the city of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, after the occupation army forced her to flee her home in Gaza City.

International Women's Day this year coincides with the devastating Israeli war on Gaza entering its sixth month, with all the death, destruction, death, and burden of livelihood it has placed on more than two million and 200 thousand Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, especially on women among them.

Rawan Al-Samuni works 12 hours a day to help her husband (Al-Jazeera)

Displacement and fear

Rawan (25 years old) told Al Jazeera Net that while the world celebrates this day, she does not feel safe about her life and the lives of her children and husband.

In a tone mixed with tears, she said, "I'm tired, that's enough. We want to go back to our homes."

She added, "I cannot sleep. I sleep and wake up afraid for my children or my husband. They will go (killed by the occupation army). Where will I go after them? Or I will die. We want to return to Gaza. That is enough."

The Palestinian woman complains of the lack of privacy in her tent, as she is forced to stay all day wearing her prayer dress.

The tent does not have a toilet, which forces her to walk hundreds of meters every day to use the public toilets at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, which is close to her place of residence.

In turn, Rana Masoud spends International Women's Day sitting on the ground in front of burning firewood, making bags in a primitive way to sell.

Rana (30 years old), who lives in a small tent in the courtyard of a school that has become a shelter for thousands of displaced people west of Deir al-Balah, was forced to make the bags that vendors needed to provide some money for her family.

She told Al Jazeera Net, "On Women's Day, women have no rights in Gaza. Here they are killed, abused, and live in a tent."

Like other women in Gaza, Rana lacks privacy, as her husband’s brothers and their families live with her in the tent.

In addition to her fear of losing her life and the life of her family as a result of Israeli raids, she suffers from poor living conditions at school, where she is forced to stand in lines to enter the toilet or fill water.

She concludes, "On Women's Day, no one feels us."

Rana Masoud - like all displaced Gaza women - misses privacy in her tent (Al Jazeera)

Global hypocrisy

As for Vida Harb (50 years old), she did not imagine that the day would come when she would have to live in a tent with 18 people: her children and grandchildren.

For her, International Women's Day is an example of the "hypocrisy of the world" that sees the suffering of the women of Gaza and remains silent.

After living in a large house, Vida has been forced for several months to walk long distances to fetch water or go to the toilet.

Her family is also suffering from great financial hardship as their money has run out.

She added to Al Jazeera Net, enumerating some of the difficulties she faces, “We stand in queues at the water, and God knows how we manage flour, how we bake, how we bring food to the children, how we go to the bathroom, and how we purify ourselves for prayer. This is a difficult and tragic life.”

She continued, "We used to live a happy life, but now we cannot even clean the dishes after we eat. The suffering is endless."

In her small, triangular tent, Rania Habib, the mother of 6 children, lives with her sister’s family in extremely difficult conditions.

She explains that her life has become dependent on the aid of benefactors, especially since her family is large and her husband does not work.

She told Al Jazeera Net, "As a woman, I spend International Women's Day in a tent. Our situation is very difficult. We get food and water from the end of the world, and our whole lives have become lines. We beg for everything."

She added, "On this International Day, women are supposed to be honored and live their normal lives, not sitting in a tent and running through sand and dirt and washing on the ground. They do not even have a toilet or a kitchen, and beg for a plate of cooking and bread for their children."

Like other tent owners, Rania and her family use a public toilet dozens of meters away, and are forced to take water with them.

She says, "We - women - do not have any privacy or freedom. We cannot sit without a veil because the tent is open, and my sister's husband lives with us, and even passersby in the street will see me."

Siham Al-Shantaf is a displaced person who needs special care in a tent that lacks the minimum necessities of life (Al-Jazeera)

Claim rights

Siham Al-Shantaf’s suffering appears different, as she is an elderly woman and is 68 years old.

Due to her advanced age, she needs special care and many needs, but she found herself residing in a tent, lacking the most basic necessities of life.

She says that her ten daughters start their day by walking hundreds of meters to reach public toilets designated for women.

As the war continues and enters its sixth month, Siham does not know how her family will manage their daily lives with the absence of a source of income.

She explains, "Our main suffering during displacement is that we left our home and no aid comes to us. We are about 20 people in the tent, and so far we have no food."

She asks, directing her speech to the United States and Europe, "They claim women's rights. Where are they? Are they only for them? And we are killed and persecuted. They support Israel in order to exterminate our descendants."

Vida Harb: International Women’s Day is an example of the “hypocrisy of the world” that is silent on the suffering of the women of Gaza (Al Jazeera)

Victims in numbers

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics said, in a statement issued last Thursday, that 9,000 women were martyred out of a total number of martyrs of about 31,000 since the start of the aggression on Gaza on the seventh of last October.

The agency explained that 75% of the total number of wounded, amounting to 72,156 wounded, are female.

Women and children also made up 70% of the 7,000 missing people.

He pointed out that nearly two million people were forced to flee from their places of residence, half of whom were female, and that the occupation army forcibly disappeared unknown numbers of women whom it arrested during the war.

The census warned - in its statement - that about 60,000 pregnant women in the Gaza Strip face harsh conditions.

The number of premature births among women also increased by about a third due to factors such as stress and trauma, and some of them had abortions as a result of fear, which led to an increase in abortion cases by 300%.

He pointed out that pregnant women suffer from malnutrition and dehydration, as they face severe food poverty.

Source: Al Jazeera