Gaza Ministry registers 54,468 orphans as widows divide care duties
Social Development data reveals 3,000 children lack registered guardians while 64,000 widows manage households without reliable income.
By Amina Kaminski ·
The Palestinian Ministry of Social Development in Gaza reported that 54,468 children have lost one or both parents since the war began in October 2023. The ministry's registry shows at least 64,000 widows and 71,000 orphaned children across the territory, a count that includes those bereaved in earlier military attacks. Approximately 3,000 children currently have no registered guardian, custodian, or caregiver.
Ministry spokesperson Aziza al-Kahlout stated that the figures do not reflect the daily hardship these families face. She noted that children who lose both parents lose care and safety while being deprived of education and childhood. Kahlout warned of alarming signs of growing child labor, school dropout, and early marriage driven by poverty and displacement. She said orphaned children are especially exposed as economic and humanitarian conditions worsen and adequate shelter remains scarce.
The Abu Asser siblings, Mariam, 16, Aya, 14, and Jebril, 12, follow a routine of moving between relatives. They lost their father during Israel's 2014 offensive on Gaza. When their home in Gaza City was destroyed during the 2023 war, they sheltered with their mother, Islam, in a tent in Deir al-Balah. On the nineteenth day after the ceasefire took effect on 10 October 2025, an Israeli bomb hit the tent and killed Islam.
Their aunt Warda al-Muzeini said the children have no stable home. They mostly stay with their paternal grandmother but rotate between their maternal aunts, spending two nights with each. Jebril was injured when the bomb struck. Muzeini said, "He saw his mother die in front of him." Muzeini lost her husband in an air strike and raises four children alone without a job or reliable income. She says she struggles to provide even one meal a day.
The sisters share the care costs. One aunt buys pyjamas, another buys slippers, and another provides pocket money for a couple of days. Another of the aunts is also a widow. The family members stretch limited resources to cover basic needs for the three orphans.
Wafaa al-Attar, now 13, lost her entire family in a single strike. On 22 February 2024, she was 10 years old and left home to charge her father's phone at her uncle's house. A blast struck the multi-storey building in Deir al-Balah where her family was. The air strike killed her father Ahmed, her mother Khouloud, and her four siblings: Rital, 8, Muhammed, 5, Obada, 3, and Yazan, 9 months. Attar suffered minor shrapnel injuries and was taken to hospital.
Attar first stayed with her grandparents and later moved in with her uncle, his wife, and their newborn. She said she wished for months that she had been killed with her family. Her uncle's wife told her that her father would want her to stay strong. Attar added, "But of course, I know that no one could ever replace my own family."
