Number of Palestinian female refugees in West Bank and Gaza exceeds 1.1 million: Report

The Ministry of Women Affairs (MoWA) says the number of Palestinian female refugees in the occupied territories has exceeded 1.1 million, Wafa news agency reported on Thursday.

The MoWA issued a report to mark International Refugee Day (on 20 June), which shared the reality of Palestinian female refugees in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) and the Gaza Strip.

The number of Palestinian female refugees makes up approximately 21 percent of the total Palestinian population, living in overcrowded accommodation, facing dilapidated infrastructure and declining international support.

More than 700,000 Palestinian female refugees live in the Gaza Strip, distributed across eight refugee camps, and around 400,000 others live in the West Bank, facing harsh conditions, a lack of essential services and the large-scale destruction of houses.

Israel has demolished hundreds of homes in the Jenin refugee camp and has threatened to tear down hundreds more.

The United Nations reported that 21,000 Palestinians have been displaced from the Jenin Refugee camp since January, representing 30 percent of the population of Jenin.

The unemployment rates among Palestinian female refugees surged from 34.5 percent before October 2023 to 46.1 percent in the first quarter of 2025.

Food expenditures account for approximately 35.6 percent of household income in the refugee camps, demonstrating food insecurity.