Gaza war reshapes family life: widows surpass 50,000, divorce cases mount, and cancer deaths accelerate

The ongoing war in Gaza has left more than 50,000 women widowed, pushed thousands of others to relinquish financial rights in order to obtain faster divorces through an overburdened court system, and caused cancer deaths to rise to an estimated two to five per day, according to Gaza officials, lawyers, doctors, and affected residents.

According to data from Gaza's Ministry of Social Development, the total number of widows in the territory has risen above 50,000, comprising 28,224 women widowed as a result of the war and more than 22,500 who were already registered with the ministry before hostilities began in October 2023. Ministry spokesperson Aziza al-Kahlout said the figure is expected to increase further because not all widows have yet been registered.

Al-Kahlout described widows as facing the responsibility of supporting families without a provider amid widespread destruction, and said their needs extend beyond financial assistance to include psychological and social support, healthcare, and legal assistance related to guardianship, custody, financial rights, and inheritance. She called protecting and empowering widows 'a shared national and humanitarian responsibility that requires an urgent and sustainable response.'

Mona al-Masri, a widow living in a displacement tent in northern Gaza whose husband Mohammed was killed in an Israeli strike in September 2024, described beginning each morning searching for water, arranging food, and attempting to protect her four children. 'The war did not only take away our homes; it took away our sense of safety and stability and made even the simplest things require enormous effort,' she said.

Psychologist Aseel Abu Shaweesh said the loss of a husband during the war represents a traumatic experience with profound psychological and social impacts on widows and their children, noting that many women are forced to hide their grief in front of their children while dealing with mounting daily pressures. She said children who have lost a parent may show signs of constant fear, sleep disturbances, and behavioural changes.

Gaza's religious courts, which handle personal status cases including divorce, have processed more than 8,700 divorce cases from the start of the war in October 2023 through the end of May, according to Sheikh Hassan al-Jojo, head of the Supreme Council of Sharia Judiciary in Gaza. Al-Jojo said courts have returned to near-full judicial work and that essential services including marriages and divorces did not stop, but acknowledged they are operating with severely limited resources, with each court having only one computer and facing repeated power cuts, shortages of printed materials, and a lack of basic office supplies.

Lawyer Mohammad al-Talaa said the war has significantly affected judicial institutions in Gaza, leading to the postponement of thousands of hearings and the suspension of many cases, as well as the loss of thousands of files and documents due to bombing and the destruction of offices. He said the suspension of court enforcement departments has left women entitled to payments without financial support and has affected child custody and visitation cases.

The judicial delays have led some women to pursue khulu, a form of divorce initiated by the wife that can involve relinquishing financial rights, rather than waiting for court-mandated proceedings. Sohair al-Bordani, 30, who initiated legal proceedings in February 2025, said she returned her dowry to her ex-husband and gave up financial support she would have been entitled to. 'I gave up everything because obtaining my rights under these circumstances had become extremely difficult,' she said. Suad al-Naami, 22, who had been married for five months, similarly chose khulu to avoid a prolonged legal process, saying: 'Giving up on my rights was not an easy matter, but I felt that entering a long legal process and waiting for years would only increase my suffering.'

On healthcare, Gaza doctors said cancer patients are dying at two to three times the pace recorded before the war. Mohamed Abu Selmia, head of Al-Shifa hospital, said his facility has recorded between three and five cancer deaths daily because patients are not receiving needed chemotherapy. Sobhi Skaik, a Palestinian surgeon who headed the now-demolished Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital, said the pre-war death rate was approximately one to two per day, with some pre-war statistics placing it at around 1.7 per day.

Israel demolished Gaza's only specialised cancer hospital — the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital — in a controlled demolition in March 2025, after previously stating that troops found a tunnel used by Hamas militants beneath it. Skaik said the rising deaths result mainly from the absence of local treatment and border restrictions, but added that cancer itself may be spreading faster due to toxic materials from Israeli explosives. He estimated that some 6,000 additional Gazans have likely developed cancer since the war began, on top of approximately 11,000 registered patients before October 2023.

An estimated 17,000 Gazans with cancer currently have no local option for chemotherapy or other advanced treatment, according to the report. Palestinian health officials said 20,000 patients, including 5,000 with cancer, are registered for treatment abroad but have not yet been permitted to leave. Palestinian health officials also said 11,000 people, including patients, have passed through the Rafah crossing since it reopened, which they described as fewer than half the number expected under the ceasefire agreement.

COGAT, the Israeli military agency controlling access to Gaza, said it coordinates medical evacuations with the World Health Organization and that departing Gazans must have a valid request from a receiving country and pass required security screening. COGAT stated that around 5,800 Gazans needing medical treatment have exited to Egypt since Israel agreed in February to a limited reopening of the Rafah crossing. COGAT also said that 'medical evacuations are in no sense restricted by the State of Israel but are wholly dependent on the receiving country's request.'

Khuloud Abu Sahmoud, a 33-year-old Palestinian mother of two with advanced ovarian cancer, said she has been waiting to leave Gaza for treatment in Egypt or elsewhere since a ceasefire was struck. She said the cancer has spread to her lungs and bones during the wait. 'Every day my disease progresses, and my condition is tragic. My fingernails have all fallen out — I have none left. I am just waiting to die,' she said.

Where sources differ

• Cancer death figures differ between sources: Al-Shifa hospital head Mohamed Abu Selmia stated three to five deaths per day, while surgeon Sobhi Skaik described the rate as two to three times the pre-war level of approximately one to two per day, yielding a somewhat different implied current range. The headline figure cited by The Straits Times — two to five per day — spans both estimates.
• Palestinian health officials and COGAT give different figures for medical exits through Rafah: COGAT said approximately 5,800 patients have exited to Egypt since February, while Palestinian health officials said 11,000 people including patients have passed through since reopening, without specifying whether both figures refer to the same time period or population.

• The WHO did not respond to a request for comment on its role in coordinating medical evacuations, according to The Straits Times.
• The total number of people who have died in Gaza from cancer since the war began is not established by any source.
• The sources do not specify how many of the 8,700 divorce cases processed were khulu divorces versus court-ordered divorces, nor how these figures compare to pre-war rates.
• No source establishes the total number of women in Gaza who have chosen khulu divorce specifically to avoid court delays since the war began.
• The identities and number of the 'dozens of highly qualified specialists, including cancer experts' said to have been killed are not detailed beyond the reference to staff at the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital.
• The sources do not establish how many receiving countries have issued requests for Gazan cancer patients, or why 20,000 registered patients have not yet received permission to leave.
• The Israeli government's broader position on the destruction of the Turkish-Palestinian Friendship Hospital and its impact on cancer care is not addressed beyond the stated military rationale regarding a Hamas tunnel.
• The sources do not establish what support, if any, international bodies or donor countries are providing to Gaza's courts or legal system.
• The pre-war divorce rate in Gaza is not provided, making it impossible to assess the scale of increase during the war from these sources alone.

1. Al Jazeera English — original — by Eman Abu Zayed
2. The Straits Times — by The Straits Times
3. Al Jazeera English — by Eman Abu Zayed

Read the original at Al Jazeera English

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