Pregnancy under siege: medics in Gaza warn of alarming increase in miscarriages
Sally Ibrahim reports in The New Arab on 23 July 2026:
Nearly 4,000 miscarriages were recorded in the Gaza Strip during the first half of this year, according to Palestinian health officials, who attribute the sharp increase to the combined effects of Israel’s genocidal war, displacement, malnutrition and the collapse of maternal healthcare services.
Local medical officials say pregnant women are facing unprecedented physical and psychological pressures after more than two and a half years of Israel’s genocide, with many unable to access routine prenatal care or even basic medical tests.
“The increase in miscarriages is unprecedented […] The deteriorating humanitarian conditions have left pregnant women at heightened risk,” Bassam Zaqout, director of Medical Relief in Gaza, said in press statements.
Speaking to local radio, Zaqout added that many women are forced to travel on damaged roads using overcrowded and unsafe transportation to reach medical facilities, while the destruction of healthcare infrastructure has severely reduced access to essential services.
He said continuous Israeli attacks, chronic fear, repeated displacement, sleeping on the ground, the lack of clean water and hygiene supplies, and the spread of infectious diseases inside overcrowded displacement camps have all contributed to worsening maternal health.