‘When will Baba come back?’ Gaza's widows and orphans struggle to survive
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Abdallah al-Naami
on
Thu, 01/15/2026 - 09:19
The suffering of Palestinian women and children widowed and orphaned by Israel’s genocide is exacerbated by the destruction of traditional support systems
Palestinian widow Nada al-Halawani, 25, and her four-year-old son Zain at the entrance to their tent in Gaza City’s al-Zaytoun neighbourhood, in October 2025 (Abdallah al-Naami/MEE)
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In the yard of a ruined school in Gaza City’s al-Zaytoun neighbourhood, now crowded with makeshift tents, displaced Palestinians brave the morning chill. At the entrance to one of the tents, a four-year-old boy, his gaze fixed on the school gate, waits for his absent father.
The child approaches his mother and begins a painful conversation that has become part of their daily routine.
“When will Baba come back?” Zain asks. “He promised to bring me a new bike and sweets.”
The young mother’s heart aches every time her son asks about his father. It deeply distresses her to know that her only child will grow up just as she did - an orphan.
Nada al-Halawani and her husband Ashraf lived a modest but happy life before Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza. They worked hard to provide a better future for their son.
When the war began, their home and livelihood were destroyed. The family was repeatedly displaced by Israel's recurrent raids on the enclave, searching for safety for their little boy.
Ashraf did everything he could to provide for his family. An Israeli sniper killed him while he was trying to reach an aid distribution site last September. His body was never recovered.
At just 25 years old, Halawani became a widow. She and her son were left alone to face the daily struggle of survival under Israel’s assault and the catastrophic living conditions it has imposed on Palestinians in Gaza.
“Ashraf was a devoting husband and father. Without him, the world became dark and terrifying. I am a young widow; my child and I are left to face a frightening future alone,” she told Middle East Eye.
According to the authorities in Gaza, more than 16,000 women have been widowed and more than 44,000 children have been orphaned as a result of Israel’s war on Gaza, which has killed over 71,424 Palestinians since October 2023.
No chance to grieve
Even after the ceasefire started in October, widows across the Gaza Strip still face relentless daily struggles to find food, water and shelter for their children, as Israel continues to block the entry of humanitarian aid.
Rawand Salim, a 27-year-old mother of two, lost her husband Mohammed in an Israeli air strike during the last ceasefire in February 2025.
Since that day, she has carried the heavy responsibility of keeping her children safe from bombs and hunger.
“Every morning, I wake up asking myself how I will keep my children alive today,” Salim told MEE. “Every decision feels like life or death.”
Survival became a daily struggle for her.
Every morning, she gathers scrap wood to light a fire for cooking, waits for hours in lines to fill her water containers, then stands again in long lines in front of community kitchens for a small plate of soup or rice. Sometimes she brings her children along because they panic when she leaves.
To survive Israel’s “policy of starvation” in Gaza, as described by a UN commission, Salim had to sell a precious gift, a piece of jewellery she had received from her deceased husband on their wedding's anniversary.
“It’s very precious to me and full of happy memories. But I couldn’t let my children starve to death during the famine.”
Rawand Salim, a 27-year-old widowed mother of two, and her three-year-old son Subhi in their tent in Gaza City’s al-Zaytoun neighbourhood, in October 2025 (Abdallah al-Naami/MEE)
Mohammed’s death left deep psychological scars on his six-year-old son Abdelrahman and three-year-old son Subhi. They miss their father deeply. Their mother said they are too young to understand death.
“I took them to visit his grave. Abdelrahman started digging with his hands. He begged me to help him take his father out and bring him back to live with us,” she said, breaking down in tears.
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The trauma has manifested physically and psychologically on Salim’s children. They suffer from anxiety attacks, social withdrawal and fear of interaction. They cling desperately to their mother. Their bodies show signs of stress and illness: psoriasis, hair loss, weak immunity and weight loss.
“They used to be so full of joy and energy,” Salim said. “It breaks my heart to see them like this.”
Halawani and her son face the same daily struggle. She observes that Zain sometimes tends to act out his grief through anger and violent behaviour. Securing food and shelter has also become a daily struggle.
“To this day, finding every meal is a challenge. We live in the same tent with two other families. We have no privacy or stability.
"I haven’t even had the chance to grieve my husband the way I need to,” Halawani told MEE.
As the army expands its so-called Yellow Line, a military border unilaterally imposed by Israel since the ceasefire, seizing more Palestinian land in the process, the family now faces imminent displacement from their shelter in al-Zaytoun.
Devastated aid systems
Traumatised by loss, and fatigued by everyday struggle to make ends meet, Gaza's widows and orphans complain of what appears to be an almost total absence of support systems.
Before the genocide, widows and orphans in Gaza relied on a small but vital assistance network. Limited financial aid - when available - helped women survive the sudden loss of income. Local initiatives offered counselling sessions, skill-building workshops and community activities.
Orphans used to receive support from both local and international charities and organisations, and most importantly, in education.
Yomna Salim, a 67-year-old widow, lost two sons and a son-in-law in Israeli attacks over recent years. She now supports her widowed daughter and two widowed daughters-in-law, helping to take care of their children.
“Widows used to receive some support that helped them keep living,” she told MEE. “There were places where women could learn, talk about their pain and find a way forward. It wasn’t much, but it helped us survive.”
However, since October 2023, several local and international institutions that used to offer help have either been destroyed by Israel or had to end their services because of the war.
In particular, Israeli forces systematically “obliterated” - in the words of the UN - the enclave’s education system, key to helping the most vulnerable.
More than 80 percent of Gaza’s schools have been damaged or destroyed, including the Ahmad al-Kurd and Khadija schools run by the Al-Salah Charitable Society in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, which were repeatedly targeted in late 2024.
These schools used to provide orphans with free education, clothes, meals and emotional support.
Amid lack of support, Halawani and her son's suffering is exacerbated.
“I haven’t received any aid. Even the aid allocated for everyone never reaches us. They consider Ashraf missing, so I cannot even register properly for aid distribution,” she told MEE.
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In Gaza, registering for aid distribution is done with the father's name and information. If he is officially dead, his wife can register for aid after presenting his death certificate.
Halawani was unable to provide such documentation as her husband’s body was never recovered, adding him to the over 11,000 individuals missing in Gaza since the start of the war and not counted in the death toll.
“I wish there was a place to help Zain get better, something to make him smile again, instead of waiting for his father every morning,” she said.
Despite their constant search among charity and aid distribution points, Salim's family is also left without assistance, including psychological help.
“Widows in Gaza need mental and emotional support,” she said. “We need a safe resort to talk, to learn how to deal with feelings of pain and loss and help each other cope.”
According to Salim, Gaza's widows look for a glimpse of hope.
“We deserve a life of peace and dignity, a shelter where we are safe from bombs, the wind and rain of winter, stray dogs, rodents and insects. A life without struggling for food and water every day."
‘Horrors no child should witness’
Perseverance and the love they have for their children are the only remaining strengths for widows in Gaza.
“Zain is a piece of my heart,” said Halawani. “I am always by his side with all the love and patience I have. I calm him when he has an outburst. I take him on walks. We do small activities together to learn new skills.”
The young mother dreams of pursuing a master’s degree in business administration and international trade to provide a better future for herself and her son. She is determined that Zain receives the best education possible, just as his late father wished.
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Salim, meanwhile, struggles to cope with the pain and trauma her children still carry.
“The world has forgotten about us,” she said.
“Our children have seen horrors no child anywhere should ever witness. They are all I have. I give them all of my love, time and effort, just to see them smile, to give them a chance for a better future.”
She encourages her children to express their feelings and interact with their surroundings, prompting them to play with neighbours' children under her watch.
“I believe that education is a vital part of the children's healing process,” she said.
It has brought her some respite that her son, Abdelrahman, now enrolled at a near learning initiative after paying the fee with difficulty.
The children are showing gradual signs of improvement, their mother observes.
“It fills my heart with joy to see them want to play again, to hear Abdelrahman come home from school so happy and excited to tell me about his day, what he learned and how his teacher and friends clapped for him," she said.
"I’m happy to see their progress,” she added softly. “But the pain and the trauma are still inside them.”
Israel's genocide in Gaza
Gaza City, occupied Palestine
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