Sexual violence, including rape and sexual assault.
Heightened sexual harassment.
Rape victims forced to marry their rapists.
Child marriages and pregnancies.
Marrying off children in exchange for food and goods.
The BBC’s coverage of a series of UN reports documenting a sharp rise in reports of violence against women and girls in the Gaza Strip makes for some grim reading. And there’s no escaping who’s ultimately being held responsible.
A man marrying off his 14-year-old daughter “in exchange for two bags of flour so he and his [other] children could eat” would, according to the BBC, “have been unthinkable before the conflict between Israel and Hamas began in 2023.” And a UN representative attributes a breakdown in social structures to the “extreme circumstances” of the past three years.
But it’s all too familiar. Back in 2012, The Guardian was blaming the Israeli blockade on Gaza for increasing conservatism in the Strip, leading to Palestinian men beating their wives in frustration.
At the time, I posited:
Maybe The Guardian’s journalist might like to consider that violence against women might very well be a by-product of a society that glorifies violence and terrorism, where children can spend their summers learning jihadi skills at Hamas sleepaway camps.
And what about Hamas control over Gaza, which encourages a conservative Islamic attitude towards women, curtailing their freedoms, opportunities and even their dress codes?
And here we are again. Societal flaws are whitewashed in favor of blaming Israel for the extreme circumstances that lead to extreme behavior. Like with so much of the world’s treatment of Palestinians, their agency is removed, and their own bad behavior is excused.
One final thought: The sexual crimes committed on October 7 by Hamas and supposed Gazan “civilians” who infiltrated Israel on that day were on an almost unimaginable scale of debauchery. Yet, Israel has been confronted with a wave of rape denial.
“It never happened.”
“Palestinian men simply wouldn’t commit such atrocious acts against women.”
Well, guess what: They are certainly capable. Just ask Gazan women and young girls.
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© Divuach Ne’eman R”A, 2025
