No pads, no privacy, no dignity: The reality of menstruation in Gaza amid Israel's genocide

When Israeli evacuation orders arrived in Gaza, 16-year-old Leena had minutes to gather her belongings and flee her home to safety. Packing period products was not even an afterthought.

She assumed she would be home within days, but now, three years later, she remains displaced in Deir-Al-Balah, along with thousands of others, crammed into makeshift camps where managing menstruation has become almost impossible. 

"We only had a few belongings with us. When we left, it didn't occur to me to take sanitary pads with me because we didn’t expect the war to be like this," Leena tells The New Arab.

Leena's period stopped coming for a year and a half as a result of stress, fear and malnutrition amid Israel's ongoing genocide in the besieged enclave.

This led to other medical problems such as hair loss and physical issues, which she is still treating now.

For women in Gaza, menstruation has become a dreaded burden that is associated with losing bodily autonomy. 

"You start to feel embarrassed that you are even a woman," notes Palestinian period rights activist Maria Rashed. 

Beyond period poverty 

Despite an 18-year blockade and consistent attacks from Israel, Gaza has historically maintained good access to sanitation and menstrual healthcare.

Dina, who is displaced with her daughters and living in a shared tent in Nuseirat, described the conditions before October 2023 as one of "complete independence and private access to personal care products for every family member."

But the ability to safely manage menstruation relies on access to clean water, a resource which quickly became scarce as Israeli occupation forces began to attack water resources and desalination plants.

On October 9 2023, Israel announced a "complete siege" on Gaza, including restrictions on electricity, which powered the desalination plants providing clean water to the 2.1 million Palestinians living in the enclave.

Within days, humanitarian agencies announced that Gaza’s water and sanitation systems were going to collapse. 

As the blockade continued, pads and tampons became impossible to find. Even when they could be bought, they were often at extortionate prices.

Ayah, who is living in Deir-Al-Balah with her three daughters, described a "painful tradeoff between using our small amount of cash to buy [either] food or wildly overpriced pads from the market." She added that buying pads at ten times the normal price was often "at the expense of our family’s evening meal."

Liz Alcock, Head of Humanitarian Protection at Medical Aid for Palestinians, has visited Gaza multiple times since the genocide began.

She describes a targeted blockade on period products at the border.

"Bars of soap were taken, sanitary towels were taken. All sorts of things that would provide a very minimum level of basic decency for people were removed at a time when those items were largely unavailable," Liz tells ​​​​​​The New Arab.

But period poverty is much more than simply not having pads. It includes a lack of access to soap, clean water, private toilets, and pain relief.

When combined, a woman's dignity is stripped, and she becomes unable to carry out everyday tasks.

Palestinian-American academic Israa Saleh, who returned to Gaza shortly before the genocide began, has been working with Médecins du Monde to provide sexual and reproductive health support to Palestinians across the strip. 

"The extreme weather and living conditions are also another struggle for a menstruating female; they exacerbate the problems — whether that is mild pain or heavy bleeding."

As an aid worker, Israa had to make difficult decisions about who she could give medication, such as painkillers and contraception, to. 

She adds, "You feel unfair as a healthcare provider making these decisions," especially when she could not give out contraceptive pills for menstrual disorders — a common treatment to relieve heavy or irregular bleeding. 

These conditions have forced women to make enormous sacrifices, even for strangers. Dina recalls how, amidst water shortages, "neighbouring women pitched in a litre of their own precious water to help out [with cleaning stained cloths]."

Why has menstruation been overlooked?

While the international community rallied in anger when the United Nations declared that 100 percent of the Gazan population was experiencing acute food insecurity, in August 2025, menstruation had no such spotlight.

Women's health is primarily framed around fertility, pregnancy, and childbirth during war, which has its own ethical problems.

This leaves almost complete media silence on the subject of menstruation and the resulting physical and psychological consequences.

Liz reflects on this, saying, "It's just not an easy sell to the media. The media likes to see the number of trucks that come in, the number of hospitals that are re-functioning, the tonnes of food that come in, and the water availability."

Menstruation is not easily measurable in this way, and discussions on the subject are always weighed down by feelings of shame or awkwardness.

For girls who are experiencing their periods for the first time, this can have a profound impact on their understanding and perception of their own bodies.

Israa notes that adolescent girls often "aren’t fully aware of the importance of speaking out [about their needs]. They don’t realise it is a priority."

She added that the broader silence on the issue means it is not recognised as a public health issue and therefore is not prioritised by aid agencies to the extent it needs to be. 

Ayah also drew attention to this, saying, "Most distribution workers are men who do not grasp the needs of households with multiple females, handing out just one kit for the entire family."

Leena has also been affected by this silence. "I feel embarrassed to talk about my period because bigger things are happening," she tells The New Arab.

Despite this, the silence continues, much to the frustration of many women and girls across Gaza.

Hala, who has been displaced from the north of Gaza to a UNRWA school in Deir-Al-Balah, asked the international community to "please treat sanitary pads and women's hygiene as a fundamental human right. It is no less vital to life than food and water."

Israa echoes this, saying, "We just need to think about the people of Gaza as human beings."

Leena's message to the world is simple: "Don't we have the right to live in peace, at the very least?"

All names have been changed to protect the privacy of those interviewed

Midnight Adams is a Scottish Muslim documentary journalist currently studying her MSc in Humanitarianism, Aid & Conflict at SOAS, University of London. She is an active campaigner towards menstrual equality, having presented speeches for the WOW Foundation and written for several Arab news outlets on the subject. She is currently in production on her debut feature documentary, Daughters of War, which explores the lives of women and girls who are menstruating in conflict-affected communities