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Women caught in the conflict between Israel and the militant group Hamas are now suffering from a severe shortage of menstruation hygiene productsto the point that they are having to cut canvas strips from tents and scraps of clothing as a substitute for sanitary pads, risking infection and deadly toxic shock syndrome.

Since the Israeli onslaught on the Palestinian enclave began on October 7, the total siege on Gaza has prevented hygiene and period products from entering the Strip. Of the 1.9 million Gazans who have fled south to Rafah, one million are estimated to be women and girls and the United Nations estimated that there are 700,000 women and girls in Gaza experiencing menstrual cycles who cannot access the hygiene products.

Riham Jafari, advocacy and communications coordinator at ActionAid Palestine, said the aid trucks that were able to penetrate the enclave mostly prioritized food and medical aid, rather than sanitary products for women. “Women in Gaza go to many places and walk long distances to search in all the pharmacies for pads, but they can’t find them,” Jafari told news outlet Middle East Eye. As a result, most females are now using menstruation-delaying pills to block their periods since sanitary products are scarce and pills are generally more available as they are not commonly used.

Also, keeping themselves clean is an added struggle. Many of them live in makeshift tents and have difficulty accessing clean running water and toilets due to overcrowding. With only one of three water pipelines in Gaza functioning, women are unable to wash themselves, some have said they’ve gone weeks without showering. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) estimated that there is only one toilet per 486 people at its shelters in Rafah.

“We suffer a lot whenever we want to go to the bathroom. We stand in line for a long time and the bathrooms are far away,” a woman who was displaced from her home with her four children told global federation ActionAid International. “This is a new form of suffering experienced by women in Gaza. This situation is extremely difficult for women and adolescent girls, who lack safe, private and dignified places to manage their menstrual hygiene,” Jafari added. Babies are being “delivered into hell”

Apart from the unsanitary living conditions, pregnant women in labor are undergoing cesarean procedures without anesthetic. What is worse, they are being discharged just hours after the operation, according to United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) spokesperson Tess Ingram.

Since there is only one operational maternity hospital left in Gaza, women in labor are forced to share beds or give birth in their tents or toilets. “Two women who were sharing a bed maybe an hour after getting a cesarean, they were then moved to a chair to free the bed up to somebody else, and discharged after three hours to go back to their shelter,” Ingram reported after she visited the El Emirati Maternity Hospital on Jan. 12. “They are terrified, they are scared about the lack of medical care, but they’re also scared about the prospect of bringing a newborn baby into such an uncertain place.”

UNICEF reported that 20,000 babies have been born in Gaza since the conflict started in October. After delivery, mothers are forced to nurse their newborns in tents and are often unable to find clothes and nappies. According to ActionAid, food supply shortages have left many new mothers too malnourished to breastfeed their newborns.

Meanwhile, a shocking press release dated January 19 from the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, also known as UN Women, indicated that the Gaza crisis is impacting women and girls at unprecedented levels with loss of life and catastrophic levels of humanitarian need. The study found that around 70 percent of people killed in the enclave are estimated to be women and children, including two mothers per hour killed since the beginning of the crisis. (Related: Israel downplays assassination of two women in Gaza church by absurdly claiming they were “Hamas spotters.”)

UN Women also estimated that at least 3,000 women may have become widows and heads of household, in urgent need of protection and food assistance, and at least 10,000 children may have lost their fathers. And so, more women fear that families will resort to desperate coping mechanisms including early marriage.

The statement also said the organization is calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire. It asked that no effort should be spared to ensure womens and girls’ protection and safe access to rapid and unimpeded humanitarian assistance. It also reiterated its deep concern at accounts of unconscionable sexual violence and other gender-based violence during the attacks, its call for accountability, justice, and support for all those affected, and for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.

Check out Humanitarian.newsfor more stories on the current living conditions of women and children in Gaza.

Watch the video below where theArchbishop of Westminster talks about Israel’s “cold-blooded” killing of two women in Gaza.

This video is from the alltheworldsastage channel on Brighteon.com. More related stories:

Exclusive: Gaza grandmother gunned down by Israeli sniper as child waved white flag.

Israel KILLED more Palestinians in 2023 than in any year since the Nakba in 1948.

Palestinian Christians in Gaza fear Israel’s ongoing bombing campaigns will lead to their EXTINCTION. Sources include:

MiddleEastEye.net

Telegraph.co.uk

UNWomen.org

Brighteon.com
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Politics

PM urged to take three key steps ahead of emergency cabinet meeting on Gaza

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PM urged to take three key steps ahead of emergency cabinet meeting on Gaza

British Palestinians have called on Sir Keir Starmer to take “immediate, concrete” steps on Gaza instead of “focusing on a symbolic gesture” of recognising it as a state ahead of an emergency cabinet meeting.

The prime minister has recalled his cabinet ministers from parliamentary recess for a meeting at 2pm, when they will discuss what the UK’s next steps should be, after Sir Keir held meetings with Donald Trump yesterday.

Ahead of the cabinet meeting, the British Palestinian Committee (BPC), which represents the experiences of Palestinians in the UK, has sent Sir Keir a letter urging him to take actions they say could make a real difference to people in Gaza.

Gaza latest: ‘Worse-case scenario of famine’ unfolding

The war has now been going on for 21 months after it was sparked by Hamas militants killing 1,200 Israelis and taking 250 hostages on 7 October 2023. The militant group still holds 50 hostages, of whom only 20 are believed to be alive.

The BPC said recognising Palestine as a state is now “symbolic” as it “will not end the genocide and must not be used to deflect from accountability”.

Sir Keir has been under pressure from his own MPs and other UK political parties, notably since France said it will recognise Palestine as a state, but has so far resisted – saying recognition needs to be part of a wider peace plan.

He has so far refused to say whether “genocide” is taking place in Gaza – a claim Israel has vehemently denied.

Israel has paused fighting in three areas for another 10 hours today to help aid distribution, the third day it has done so amid mounting international condemnation of the scenes of hunger unfolding in Gaza.

David Mencer, a spokesperson for the Israeli government, said: “There is no intent, (which is) key for the charge of genocide… it simply doesn’t make sense for a country to send in 1.9 million tonnes of aid, most of that being food, if there is an intent of genocide.”

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Sky News on board Gaza aid plane

The BPC, an independent group, said the government has “not only a political and moral obligation, but a legal obligation” to take three steps.

They are:

• Preventing and punishing Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza and to end “all complicity in it”

• Apply “immediate and comprehensive sanctions on Israel”

• Safeguard the rights to freedom of expression and assembly in the UK

More specifically, the group has called on Sir Keir to end “all forms of military collaboration, urgently review all public contracts to ensure they are not aiding unlawful occupation or genocidal acts, and support universal jurisdiction mandates”.

Read more:
25% of young children and pregnant women malnourished in Gaza
The view from a plane dropping aid into Gaza

Palestinians wait to receive food from a charity kitchen, amid a hunger crisis, in Gaza City, July 28, 2025. REUTERS/Khamis Al-Rifi
Image:
The BPC said the UK could take immediate steps to help starving Gazans. Pic: Reuters

The group said these steps would help towards ending the starvation crisis in Gaza, which it said had been made possible “due to the impunity granted to” Israel and “compounded by the active military, economic and diplomatic support from states such as the UK”.

The group also accused the UK government of introducing “draconian legislation to limit the rights” of British citizens campaigning to end the atrocities “and British complicity in those atrocities” – in reference to Palestine Action being designated as a terrorist organisation.

‘Immediate steps’ Britain can take

Dr Sara Husseini, director of the BPC, said: “We wrote to the prime minister to remind the UK cabinet of their legal obligations towards the Palestinian people.”

She said there are a “number of immediate steps” the British government “can and should be taking”, as outlined in the letter.

Dr Husseini said 147 countries have already recognised Palestine as a state, and instead of “focusing on a symbolic gesture” it is essential the UK severs diplomatic ties with Israel, institutes a full arms embargo, applies comprehensive sanctions and cuts trade.

“Anything short of this amounts to complicity,” she added.

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Has Trump broken from Netanyahu over Gaza?

Ahead of the cabinet meeting, senior minister Peter Kyle told Sky News the PM had decided to call an emergency meeting “to discuss all of the actions that Britain can and should be taking at a time like this”.

He said recognising Palestine as a state is a manifesto commitment but the “real priority” right now is to try to get aid into Gaza.

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Politics

How Corbyn’s new party is preparing for battle – and where insiders think they could win

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How Corbyn's new party is preparing for battle - and where insiders think they could win

Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana’s new party will offer “unapologetically socialist” policies, with the pair to embark on a nationwide tour to listen to ideas, Sky News understands.

The former Labour MPs are aiming to hold the party’s first conference in the autumn to help decide what it stands for and models of leadership.

Farage condemns ‘disgusting’ Savile remark – politics live

Ms Sultana told Sky News its policies will include “democratic public ownership of key industries, universal free childcare, rent controls, free public transport and much more”.

Mr Corbyn, the ex-Labour leader, added there is “huge appetite for the policies that are needed to fix society”, including “wealth redistribution, housing justice, and a foreign policy based on peace and human rights”.

The autumn conference will be for paid members rather than those who have simply signed up to the party’s website.

How to translate signups into membership, and exactly how members will have their say on policies, will be discussed as part of a “founding process” over the next few months.

This will involve local engagement with communities up and down the country, including rallies and meetings fronted by Mr Corbyn and Ms Sultana, as well as “other public figures”, a source close to the party told Sky News.

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Corbyn’s new party shakes the left

Election goals

While there are many details to be fleshed out, including the name, the pair’s “primary aim” is to make gains at the local elections next May, it is understood.

Mr Corbyn and Ms Sultana announced their new venture last Thursday, and claim more than half a million people have signed up, but “Your Party” is only an interim name. Members will decide the official one in due course.

Insiders have claimed they are attracting support from a wide geographical area, the strongest bases being in London, the North West, and Yorkshire and the Humber.

It remains to be seen whether those who have expressed an interest will go on to join the party.

However, there is a risk it could eat into Labour’s vote share by attracting those on the left unhappy with the direction of the Starmer government, particularly on issues like Gaza and welfare.

Read more:
PM’s warfare vs welfare dilemma
‘Worst-case’ famine warning in Gaza

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Corbyn open to ideas on new party name

Mr Corbyn led the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020 before being suspended following a row over a report into antisemitism. He retained his seat in Islington North after standing in last year’s general election as an independent.

Ms Sultana was suspended as a Labour MP last year after rebelling against the government over the two-child benefit cap, and announced she was quitting the party to launch a new one with Mr Corbyn earlier this month.

Polling by More in Common before the new outfit was officially announced suggested it could take 10% of the vote at a general election, mainly from Labour and the Greens.

This has raised the prospect of Mr Corbyn striking a deal with the Greens, where both sides would agree to stand down in seats where the other has a stronger chance of winning

Could Farage benefit?

The Islington North MP has suggested he is open to collaboration with progressive parties, but it is understood that electoral strategy will be informed by conference. It is also not clear if the Greens would agree to any such pact.

Some MPs are worried the split in the left vote could make it easier for Nigel Farage, already ahead in the polls, to enter Downing Street.

Patrick Hurley, the Labour MP for Southport, told Sky News: “The thing I’m worried about with regard to the unnamed but already chaotic Corbyn Party is that they let Reform through the middle by taking votes off a progressive centre left party like Labour.

“They won’t be a threat electorally, but they may well let the radical right wing into power by splitting the vote.”

However, Labour was dismissive of the threat the party posed, with a source saying: “The electorate has twice given its verdict on a Jeremy Corbyn-led party.”

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Manhunt after couple hiking with their children killed in Arkansas park

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Manhunt after couple hiking with their children killed in Arkansas park

A manhunt is under way after a married couple were killed while hiking with their children in an Arkansas state park.

Clinton Brink, 43, and Cristen Brink, 41, were walking with their daughters, who are aged seven and nine, when they were attacked in Devil’s Den State Park on Saturday afternoon, according to Arkansas State Police.

Officers were called to reports of two people dead in the park at around 2.40pm, before their bodies were found on a walking trail.

Arkansas’s state lab are working to determine their cause of death, officials said.

Their children were not injured and are safe with relatives, authorities added.

A statement from the Brink family said the couple “died heroes, protecting their little girls”.

“They deserve justice. They will forever live in all our hearts,” the family added, asking for privacy as they “grieve and learn to navigate this new reality”.

The couple had only moved to Arkansas three weeks ago, having previously lived in California and eastern Montana, Mr Brink’s sister Karina Hutchins said.

Officials have not said how the couple were killed and have not provided a possible motive for the attack.

The suspect has been described as white, of medium build, and was wearing a long-sleeved shirt, a dark baseball cap, and sunglasses.

He was also carrying a black backpack and wearing fingerless gloves.

Police said he could have sustained injuries during the attack and exited the park in a black, four-door car, possibly a Mazda, with the number plate covered with duct tape.

He is then believed to have travelled on State Highway 170 or State Highway 220 to escape.

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Police have urged anyone who was in or near the park that day with smartphone or GoPro footage to come forward.

The park has been closed until further notice.

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