Rising Child Marriages in Gaza Amidst War and Poverty
In Gaza, child marriages are becoming increasingly common, largely due to the effects of war and poverty pushing families to marry off their underage daughters. During a brief monitoring period, the emergency courts recorded over 400 marriage licenses for girls aged 14 to 16. Additionally, a recent survey indicated that 71% of respondents observed mounting pressure to marry girls before they turn 18, according to UN News, referencing data from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Although child marriage rates had been declining in Gaza for over ten years, the ongoing conflict has reversed this trend.
Sima Alami, who works as the Youth and Youth Program Officer for UNFPA, noted that many families view this practice as a necessary coping mechanism. “In times of displacement, poverty and insecurity, some families consider marriage as a survival strategy,” she explained. This perspective underscores the desperate measures some families are resorting to.
In December 2025, around one in ten new pregnancies were reported among adolescent girls, many of whom were malnourished and struggled to access prenatal care. A 16-year-old girl from Beit Hanoun, referred to as Hiba for privacy reasons, described her resistance to the situation. “I always rejected the idea of marriage. I wanted to make my beauty salon project a success and build my future,” she said. The widespread destruction of schools in Gaza has further weakened the barriers that traditionally helped delay early marriages, according to UNFPA.
The UN framework tends to view this alarming rise in child marriages strictly as an economic consequence of the conflict. However, in Gaza, marriage is governed by Islamic courts, and some families have historically worked with religious leaders to arrange marriages for minors, according to the organization A Girl, Not a Bride. This group’s research suggests that child marriage has historically surged during times of political instability in the Palestinian territories, hinting at deeper cultural and religious motivations that the UN may not fully recognize.
This trend isn’t limited to Gaza. For instance, in January 2025, Iraq’s parliament approved an amendment that granted more power to Islamic courts concerning family law. Under the Ja’afari school of Islamic jurisprudence, which many Shiite authorities support, girls can be married as young as nine. Lawmakers advocating for these changes argued that they aimed to align Iraq’s laws more closely with Islamic principles, effectively removing a long-standing ban on child marriage instituted in the 1950s.
