State of Palestine: Protect two Gaza women in grave danger

Wissam al-Tawil bravely told the story of her ordeal and expressed solidarity with all survivors of gender-based violence, in an article published on 24 December 2022 on news site raseef22.net. Over the last months of 2022, Wissam and Fatimah have shown extraordinary courage by speaking out against the violence they have endured, posting on social media and sharing powerful accounts of their plight in the media. They refused to be silenced even when their father posted threats against them on his Facebook page. The sisters said they were speaking out not only for themselves, but for all women facing gender-based violence.

The two women attempted to leave Gaza through the Rafah crossing on 25 October 2022 but were informed by the authorities that they were not allowed to travel. Since then, the two women repeatedly sought permission to travel but were told on each occasion by the authorities that they would not be allowed to, despite the fact that there is no judicially ordered travel ban against them.

On 12 November 2022, the two women were coerced into leaving the women’s shelter after months of pressure from their father, who accused the authorities of destroying “family values” and violating social norms by “refusing” to hand over his two daughters, whom he treats as his own private property. The father published numerous videos on Facebook and WhatsApp reiterating this message.

The two women told Amnesty International that they felt they had been subjected to “psychological warfare”, forcing them to leave the shelter and return to Rafah against their will. They said that the director of the shelter had conducted humiliating searches in order to confiscate their mobile phones and that the Gaza women’s police officer had ordered them to immediately leave the shelter. After hiding for weeks, the women were detained by the Palestinian security services and brought back to their family on 5 January 2023. The last words that they sent to Amnesty International, around 1 am on 6 January 2023, were “We are doomed.”

In 2014, the State of Palestine ratified the International Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women. Palestinian authorities are obligated to protect women from violence, provide survivors with remedy, and hold perpetrators accountable.