Gaza Fertility Violence Report: A War on the Future and the Systematic Destruction of Demographics

At the beginning of the year, two reports released by an international medical human rights organization brought a hidden yet brutal war in the Gaza Strip into the spotlight. The reports revealed that since the escalation of the conflict in [year], the birth rate in Gaza has plummeted by [percentage]%. This is not an isolated statistic; behind it lies the stark reality of [number] miscarriages, [number] maternal deaths, [number] preterm births, over [number] underweight newborns, and more than [number] infants requiring intensive care. These figures depict far more than the collateral damage of a military conflict—they represent the systematic deprivation of a population’s reproductive rights, right to survival, and even the continuity of future generations amid the flames of war.

The report released by the organization "Doctors for Human Rights" in collaboration with the University of Chicago Law School's Global Human Rights Clinic is the first to place the concept of "reproductive violence" at the center of analyzing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The report points out that the systematic destruction of the maternal healthcare system and the direct attacks on reproductive potential go beyond military necessity and may constitute elements of genocide under international law. When war not only destroys lives in the present but also targets a nation's reproductive capacity and future, we are confronting a deeper form of violence.

The Disaster Behind the Data: The Maternal and Newborn Survival Crisis in Gaza

The healthcare system in Gaza is on the verge of collapse amid ongoing warfare. Since October, hospitals, ambulances, and medical personnel have repeatedly become targets of military strikes. The blockade and continuous bombardment have severed supply chains, restricted the transfer capabilities between medical facilities, and accelerated the disintegration of the entire public health system. Israel insists that Hamas uses hospitals to hide armed personnel, but such claims have not been supported by clear evidence. Regardless of the reasons, the outcome is already evident: a once relatively functional maternal healthcare network has now been shattered.

Fuel shortages, blocked medical supplies, large-scale displacement, and relentless bombardment have collectively destroyed the basic conditions for maternal and infant care. For pregnant women in Gaza, living in overcrowded tent camps has become the only option. These conditions not only endanger mothers but also threaten the fetuses in their wombs, newborns, and breastfeeding infants. As stated by Lama Bakri, a psychologist and project manager at "Doctors for Human Rights": "These circumstances will affect generations, permanently altering family structures."

UN Women estimates that in the first six months of the war, over mothers were killed, averaging two per hour. Data from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs shows that approximately pregnant and lactating women have been forcibly displaced. According to figures from the Palestinian Ministry of Health, since , among a total of amputation cases, women have undergone upper or lower limb amputations. Together, these numbers paint a harrowing picture of the direct and indirect physical harm inflicted on women's bodies during the war.

Personal Testimony: The Hardships of Survival That Statistics Cannot Capture

While the statistics are indeed shocking, the report's truly staggering power comes from the firsthand accounts of women in Gaza. These voices transform the abstract crisis into the daily struggle for survival.

A pregnant woman from Rafah, Masara Kamis Sakafi, described: "When I found out I was pregnant, I was shocked. During my pregnancy, I suffered greatly; I spent more time in the hospital than in the refugee camp. I experienced severe pain and infections, and there was a lack of vitamins and food... I endured immense suffering; contractions would start, then suddenly stop due to fear of airstrikes. I would freeze, and the contractions would cease." Her account reveals a unique form of war trauma: extreme psychological stress directly interfering with natural physiological processes, intertwining the creation of new life with the threat of death.

Another case is that of Sarah Dawr, a 30-year-old mother of three from Jabalia, who suffers from a heart condition. On October 7, she gave birth at Al-Shifa Hospital while infected, and her newborn was admitted to the intensive care unit. After being discharged, she returned to her parents' home in the Beit Hanoun suburb, but due to her inability to walk, she had to be carried into the house by relatives. As her condition worsened, she was readmitted to the hospital for surgery. Subsequently, amid the sound of gunfire, she was forced to evacuate to the home of her deceased sister-in-law in Fahoura. The sister-in-law who had cared for her—Ayat Naif Mashrafi, a nurse at Al-Awda Hospital—was killed along with her children and 15 other family members. "It has been extremely difficult," Dawr said. "Every time I was forced to relocate due to my health condition, I suffered tremendously."

These stories reveal that women in Gaza are not only facing a shortage of medical resources but also making "unimaginable choices" amid ongoing violence, displacement, and extreme insecurity. They often have to compromise their own health and survival to meet the most basic needs of their children.

From Medical Collapse to Reproductive Assault: The Escalation of Systematic Destruction

The analysis of the report does not stop at the damage inflicted by the war on medical infrastructure. It further points to a more intentional pattern of attack: the systematic destruction of a community's capacity for population reproduction. This "reproductive violence" constitutes a violation under international law; when such acts are carried out in a systematic manner and with the intent to destroy, they may fall within the definition of genocide as outlined in the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

Key Cases: A Direct Blow to Reproductive Potential

A highly symbolic case is the Israeli military's attack on Gaza's largest fertility center, the Bassam In Vitro Fertilization Clinic, in [Month] [Year]. The assault destroyed an estimated [number] reproductive samples (including eggs, sperm, and embryos) and halted between [number] and [number] in vitro fertilization procedures per month. An independent international commission of inquiry concluded that the attack was deliberate, directly targeting the reproductive potential of Palestinians, constituting a severe violation of international law.

Destroying a fertility clinic, whose military necessity is highly questionable. This action sends a signal that goes beyond tactical considerations, seemingly aimed at fundamentally undermining a group's biological potential to sustain its future. The UN Commission of Inquiry has cited the impact on their reproductive health rights as one of the grounds for declaring Israel's actions to constitute genocide.

The report states: "The destruction of maternal care in Gaza reflects a deliberate creation of living conditions aimed at the total or partial destruction of the Palestinian people." This analytical framework connects scattered atrocities—hospitals bombed, pregnant women killed, fertility clinics destroyed—pointing to an underlying, more extensive destructive logic.

The Gray Area Between Law and Ethics: Reproductive Violence and Genocide Accusations

Linking the legal definitions of "reproductive violence" and "genocide" represents the most controversial and profound analytical dimension in these two reports. According to the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, genocide refers to acts "committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group," including "deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part."

Examination of Legal Elements

The report suggests that what is happening in Gaza may align with this definition. By systematically destroying the maternal healthcare system, causing large-scale maternal and neonatal deaths, creating widespread hunger and trauma, and directly attacking reproductive facilities, the conflict has created a "living condition" whose consequences are devastating for the Palestinian population, particularly its future generations. The sharp decline in the birth rate is not merely a humanitarian indicator; from a demographic perspective, it signals a drastic decline in the survival vitality of a group.

The Israel Defense Forces firmly deny such allegations. Following the release of the report, the IDF issued a statement "condemning the allegations made," stating that they "do not reflect the reality on the ground and are not based on facts." The statement emphasized: "The IDF has never and will never deliberately target women, in contrast to the actions of the Hamas terrorist organization, which murdered, raped, and kidnapped women in the October 7 attack." The statement also noted that the IDF and the Ministry of Defense units coordinating access to Gaza "have been working throughout the war to facilitate humanitarian aid to Gaza, including general medical assistance and, in particular, aid for women and maternal care."

However, there exists a significant gap between the findings of international investigative bodies and the official Israeli narrative. The core of the issue lies in how "intent" is defined. Civilian casualties and damage to infrastructure resulting from military operations may be classified as "collateral damage" under the laws of armed conflict. Yet, when such destruction exhibits clear systematic patterns, targets critical life-support systems for specific groups (such as pregnant women and newborns), and involves actions—like the destruction of fertility clinics—that are difficult to justify by military necessity, the balance of legal analysis tends to tilt toward "deliberately creating conditions of life calculated to bring about destruction."

Shadows After the Ceasefire: Ongoing Crisis and Intergenerational Trauma

Although the ceasefire agreement that took effect in November has reduced large-scale military operations, the crisis in Gaza is far from over. Life remains precarious. Airstrikes and crossfire have decreased but have not ceased. Meanwhile, recent winter storms have exacerbated the crisis, causing deaths and flooding in already overwhelmed displacement camps.

UNICEF spokesperson James Elder pointed out that since the ceasefire, over children have died in the Gaza Strip. "Just this winter, we have learned that children have died from hypothermia," Elder said. Walls blown down by strong winds collapsed onto the fragile tents of displaced people, resulting in at least four deaths, including two women and a girl. The Gaza Health Ministry reported that a one-year-old boy died from hypothermia overnight. These "indirect violence" deaths highlight that even as hostilities ease, civilians—especially the most vulnerable children—remain exposed to extremely high environmental risks following the destruction of infrastructure.

Long-term intergenerational impact

The impact of this crisis will extend far beyond the current period of conflict. The report warns that the trauma of war, widespread malnutrition, and the lack of medical care will have profound effects on the physical and mental health of surviving children. A large number of children experiencing extreme stress during critical developmental stages may face long-term mental health issues, cognitive development disorders, and physical health risks. Moreover, for mothers who conceive and give birth under extreme stress, the health baseline of their children has already been severely compromised.

This means that Gaza has not only lost a generation of lives but has also been preemptively deprived of the quality of life and potential for its future generations. The demographic trauma—a sharp decline in birth rates, high child mortality, and widespread health crises—will reshape the social fabric of this land, with impacts likely to persist for decades.

Reports from Gaza reveal an increasingly clear yet often overlooked dimension of violence in modern conflicts: the war against a population's reproductive capacity. This is no longer merely a struggle over territory, resources, or political control, but one that strikes at the very foundation of a people's biological and social continuity. When hospital maternity wards, fertility clinics, and the safety of pregnant women become targets, the nature of the conflict undergoes a fundamental shift.

The coldness of data and the blood and tears of personal testimonies collectively point to one conclusion: in Gaza, war is being waged in the most thorough manner—by destroying the conditions for the birth and survival of life. Regardless of the final legal characterization, these reports have already etched the concept of "reproductive violence" into the discourse of contemporary armed conflicts and human rights studies. It compels the international community, legal scholars, and humanitarian workers to examine whether our existing legal and moral frameworks are sufficient to address violence that infiltrates the most intimate realms of human reproduction and child-rearing, and how we can rebuild the defense of life's most fundamental dignity. The tragedy in Gaza reveals that the cruelest war may well be the silent war waged against the future.

Reference materials

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2026/jan/14/gaza-war-fall-in-births-reproductive-violence

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/gaza-war-leads-41-fall-153030087.html