October 26 is Women's Day in Palestine.
Palestinians gathered Tuesday outside the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross in western Gaza City to mark Palestinian Women's Day and to demand the release of Palestinian women held in Israeli prisons. The demonstration was organized by the Prisoners Committee of the National and Islamic Forces and the National Supreme Committee for the Families of Gaza Prisoners. The participants raised Palestinian flags and carried signs that read: "Our prisoners are not stories; these are stories of resilience" and "With you until freedom." Human rights institutions have documented more than 810 arrests of Palestinian women since October 7, 2023 in the West Bank, including Jerusalem. One million women were forcibly displaced under more than 150 eviction orders. 702,000 women face severe food insecurity. 86,290 households headed by women, double the previous figure. 28,224 women who were widowed during the war took care of 71,846 orphans (total number of widows: 64,413). In the first half of 2026, 4,000 abortions were recorded, three times the number in the second half of 2025.