In these overcrowded and unsafe shelters women face the combined burden of indignity, exclusion, and hunger. A mother of four in Khan Younis described: “Since October 2023 we have been displaced fifteen times. Each time it started the same way: an evacuation order, a bombing, a neighbor shouting, ‘They are coming,’ and the desperate gathering of a few belongings such as blankets, flour, and birth certificates before fleeing again. I no longer remember the names of all the neighborhoods we passed through. Now, I live with my children in a fragile tent on cracked earth in Khan Younis, exposed to heat, dust, and despair.” The risks of disrupted living conditions and meager food supplies are further compounded by hazardous cooking. “As a pregnant woman, sitting by the fire and inhaling smoke harms my health, yet many days I am forced to do it,” explained one woman. Another added: “I crouch beside open flames to prepare watery soups. I cough until I vomit, but there is no medicine. The smoke fills my chest and makes me weak, but if I do not cook, my children do not eat.” The absence of privacy, safe cooking facilities, and access to aid means that food insecurity is not only about the shortage of food itself, but also about the inability to safely obtain and prepare what little is available. While food sometimes reaches shelters in bulk, families cannot cook because there are no stoves, no fuel, and no utensils. In interviews, women living in shelters described giving children raw flour mixed with water or dry bread as their only food for the day. Some risked leaving shelters to collect firewood, while others burned scraps of plastic and rubbish despite the toxic smoke. A woman in Khan Younis explained: “I burn anything I find, wood, trash, plastic. The smoke makes us cough, but at least the children eat something warm.” Rise of female-headed households Female-headed households, particularly widows and women without male relatives, are among the most marginalized in Gaza’s hunger crisis. In 2024, UN Women estimated that at least 3,000 women had become widows and new heads of households following their male partner’s death.46 As a result, women are largely responsible for obtaining food to feed their families. A food distribution worker observed, “Women arrive three to four hours early just to hold a place in line,” while another noted, “Over 85 percent of people at our points are women and girls; men are rarely more than 10 percent.” Several widows spoke of navigating hunger, grief, and homelessness: “The loss of my husband shattered us. He was the one who provided for the family, and his death left a gap that nothing can replace. Now the burden of survival falls completely on me. Every day is a battle to secure food, water, and shelter. Everything is expensive, and meeting even the most basic needs feels overwhelming.” Another woman lamented: “My husband was killed trying to collect food from the GHF distribution point. Now I raise his children alone. I cry in silence, but I cannot collapse because the children depend on me.” 15