‘Safe Space’ for Gaza Women: Reclaiming Voice and Hope Amid War

Deir el-Balah, Gaza Strip – Every morning around 9 a.m., after seeing to her five children, Ola Saleh leaves her makeshift tent at the al-Amal camp and walks a few minutes to another tent in the camp. For a few hours, the 39-year-old mother temporarily sets aside the burdens of motherhood, displacement, and grief.

This is a women-only safe space where daily sessions are held under a program run by the Collective Development Projects organization, offering psychological support, group discussions, and practical guidance to deal with the pressures of war.

Here, Saleh has the chance to talk with others who share her plight — people who understand her pain without explanation. Surrounded by psychologists and women carrying their own losses, she finds something that has been hard to feel since Israel’s war took so much from her.

“He was killed instantly,” Saleh said, tears streaming down her cheeks, as she recalled her 43-year-old husband, Abdul Jalil Saleh, killed last August while buying food and household supplies. “I still don’t know whether it was a sniper or a drone.”

In that moment, Ola lost the family’s sole breadwinner and, as she describes, the person who gave her the greatest comfort. Now she lives displaced in Deir el-Balah, single-handedly raising five children aged 5 to 17.

“Each day is harder than the one before,” she said. “My responsibilities keep piling up, and his absence becomes heavier.”

According to UN Women, an estimated 16,000 women across Gaza have lost their husbands since the war began in October 2023 — meaning roughly one in seven families in Gaza is now female-headed.

For most, there is little space or time to grieve. Living in tents without electricity or ventilation, they are busy securing food, water, and basic daily necessities.

Alaa Daoud, field coordinator of the women’s safe space, said the initiative is designed to offer women a secure environment where they can freely express themselves and receive both psychological and practical support.

“Each woman comes with her own experience … what they have been through and what they want to change,” she said.

The program at al-Farah school in central Gaza launched last week, with plans to expand to other evacuation sites across the strip. Similar sessions are already running in the north.

Beyond emotional support, the sessions raise awareness about issues that have become more urgent during the war: family pressures, economic hardship, mental health, and difficulties in caring for children while displaced.

Daoud said participation has grown rapidly since the sessions began. The first day drew about 60 women, rising to 65 on the second day and then to 70–75 as more women learned about and joined.

“Women tell us they badly need safe spaces where they can freely express themselves in a safe and comfortable way,” Daoud said. “They need a place to release emotions, recharge with positive energy, and learn how to cope with society and their children.”

For Saleh, the safe-space sessions do not erase the pain but make it more bearable. She said it is the place she truly looks forward to each day, where she is seen, heard, and, for a short while, less alone.

“I leave with a dose of hope and positive energy,” she said. “It’s not enough to pull me out of everything I’m going through, but it helps me keep going.”

“It reminds you that you matter too … that you still exist.”

Suad al-Gharabali, 63, is one of the oldest participants in the group. Unlike many women who come to talk about their pain, she often takes a more active role — listening to younger mothers and sharing lessons from a life spent raising eight children.

Before the war, al-Gharabali lived in Gaza City’s Shujaiya neighborhood. Like many, she was displaced after her house was destroyed and now lives in a tent in Deir el-Balah with her son, his wife, and grandchildren.

Displacement is not the first loss the war has brought her; she lost two sons, aged 24 and 35, killed in separate attacks in Shujaiya. Both were engaged and about to be married.

Still, al-Gharabali tries to turn her experience into something she can share with other women. At the safe space, she often speaks to young mothers about raising children during wartime and when family life has changed so much.

“I am happy with these gatherings because they bring awareness,” she said. “Every mother needs to pay attention to her children. This generation is facing many problems.”

For her, the value of the sessions lies not only in the support women receive but in what they exchange with one another. “Someone older than you by a day knows something you don’t,” she said, explaining why she feels a responsibility to pass on what she has learned.

Before joining the sessions, her days revolved mostly around the tent, prayer, and quiet time with neighbors. But the gatherings have given her something else — a reason to step out of the isolation of displacement and connect with people.

“It’s a wonderful experience. I share what life has taught me with these women.”

For Daoud, the importance of these spaces goes beyond counseling. They are also a way to recognize what Gaza’s women have endured throughout the war. “Women are among the groups bearing the greatest responsibilities. They experience poverty, displacement, and immense pressure. When we tell them how important their role is and how much they have contributed, they feel their efforts and suffering are acknowledged.”