ICSPR Holds an Awareness Session on Women’s Rights and Access to Sharia Courts at Al-Jawad Camp, Gaza – Al-Jalaa Street
Date: 13 may 2025
Press Release
Amid Strong Engagement, ICSPR Holds an Awareness Session on Women’s Rights and Access to Sharia Courts at Al-Jawad Camp, Gaza – Al-Jalaa Street
The International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR) organized a legal awareness session today at Al-Jawad Camp in the Al-Jalaa area of Gaza City, targeting a group of approximately 20 to 25 women, as part of its efforts to enhance women’s legal awareness and support them in addressing growing challenges related to personal status matters and access to justice in Gaza.
The session was opened by lawyer Rana Hdeib, Program Coordinator at ICSPR, who welcomed the participants and stressed the importance of such awareness activities in strengthening women’s legal empowerment and protecting their rights under the current humanitarian and legal conditions, particularly in light of the disruption and gradual resumption of Sharia court services and the impact this has had on women’s cases.
The session was facilitated by lawyer Nermine Al-Louh, who presented a clear overview of the mechanisms related to the return of Sharia court operations and the procedures for following up on delayed legal transactions. She focused in particular on urgent issues affecting women directly, especially alimony, child custody, and inheritance, and emphasized the need to ensure that these rights are not lost during periods of crisis, displacement, and institutional breakdown.
The meeting was marked by strong and highly interactive discussion, as the women raised a number of direct and realistic questions reflecting their actual legal needs on the ground, especially with regard to litigation procedures, the recovery of Sharia-based rights, and ways of dealing with pending files in the current context in Gaza. Lawyer Nermine responded to all questions raised, which helped create an atmosphere of trust and reassurance among the participants and highlighted the value of community-based legal outreach for women.
This session comes amid an increasing need for legal awareness initiatives for women in the Gaza Strip, particularly for widows, divorced women, and female heads of household, many of whom have been directly affected by disruptions in judicial and legal services related to alimony, custody, inheritance, and other personal status matters.
At the conclusion of the session, the participating women expressed their appreciation for the initiative and stressed their urgent need for the continuation of such meetings on a regular basis in order to cover additional legal and social issues of concern to Palestinian women and to strengthen their access to knowledge, justice, and protection.
ICSPR affirmed that it will continue organizing legal and awareness activities aimed at protecting women’s rights and providing them with legal and community-based support, particularly in affected areas and displacement settings, in a way that helps mitigate the consequences of judicial disruption and reinforces the resilience of Palestinian women in the face of ongoing violations and crisis.
