Women in the Gaza Strip continue to live with the devastating consequences of Israeli military strikes, with many suffering severe physical and psychological trauma as they face the prospect of abandoning their dreams and ambitions alongside the loss of their homes and loved ones.
Areej Al-Saafin, a young Palestinian artist, is among the many women who have endured the horrors of the war in Gaza. Amid repeated bombardments and forced displacements, she lost her brother, saw her mother badly wounded as the family home was partially destroyed, and sustained a life-changing injury herself.
Following the brutal attack, she lost one of her eyes, which has directly affected her ability to continue painting to her previously high standard.
"As a woman in Gaza, I am destroyed psychologically and physically. I no longer have the same passion as before. Physically, I lost my eye, and I can't focus on painting like I used to. Even when I draw, the quality of my work is not the same as before the war," she said.
Since childhood, painting has been Areej's entire world. She had turned a room at home into a small studio where she practiced her talent and expressed her dreams, but sadly her life's work has now been destroyed and her passion left in ruins.
"I used to hang all my paintings on my room's walls. Through art, I expressed my dreams and passion. But unfortunately, I lost it all with the shelling that hit my home. I lost my paintings, there is nothing left, as if I had never painted at all," she said.
Figures from the UN Women, a United Nations entity dedicated to gender equality and the empowerment of females, shows that as of the end of last year, more than 38,000 women and girls have been killed in Gaza since the Israeli-Hamas conflict erupted in October 2023, with nearly 11,000 women and girls now living with lifelong disabilities.
Sahar Yaghi, director of the Palestinian Development Women Studies Association (PDWSA), a Gaza-based NGO working to empower women, outlined the grave situation facing almost all of Gaza's female population.
"Most women in the Gaza Strip, around 95 percent, are suffering from significant psychological impacts. The trauma they have experienced has deeply affected them on psychological, social, and economic levels. Palestinian women are also facing major losses in housing and in the projects they used to lead, in addition to serious health consequences," she said.
Female artist shares tragic story as Gaza women endure trauma of war
