Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) today issues a new report “Absence of Justice and Suspension of Rights: Women’s Reality amid the Collapse of the Sharia Judicial System during the Genocidal War.” The report documents the near-total collapse of the Sharia judicial system in the Gaza Strip as a direct result of the ongoing genocidal war and examines the grave consequences this collapse has had on women’s rights, particularly in personal status matters, including separation, alimony, and child custody.
The report emphasizes that Israel’s violations extend beyond direct military attacks to include the deliberate dismantling of Palestinian society’s institutional infrastructure, notably the effective suspension of the Sharia judicial system, thereby creating a profound legal vacuum that undermines the protection of rights and the ability to resolve disputes through organized and lawful judicial mechanisms.
The report is based on a series of interviews with five Sharia judges representing different levels of litigation across the Gaza Strip. These interviews provide a comprehensive account of the suspension of the Sharia judicial system during the genocidal war and the direct impact of Israel’s ongoing violence and systematic destruction of judicial infrastructure. The report further examines how this collapse has severely undermined the judiciary’s capacity to safeguard citizens’ legal rights and clarifies the operational reality of Sharia courts during war.
Drawing on testimonies of women affected by the suspension of Sharia court operations, collected by PCHR staff, the report reveals that the suspension of the Sharia judiciary and the refusal to register new cases as a result of the Israeli offensive have had devastating consequences for women’s reality in the Gaza Strip, in the absence of any institutional alternatives capable of addressing personal status matters. Women have been rendered unable to pursue cases related to separation, alimony, and child custody, leaving them in a prolonged state of legal limbo and instability. This reality has exacerbated their psychological, social, and economic suffering, increasing their vulnerability to marginalization and exploitation. The report further finds that many women have been compelled to waive their legal rights due to the absence of accessible remedies and the collapse of official protection mechanisms.
Women’s testimonies presented in the report reveal that women have borne the heaviest burden of the suspension of judiciary’s work, as they have been deprived of their Sharia-based, economic, and social rights and subjected to continuous legal and psychological harm amid the absence of effective protection mechanisms and meaningful institutional support.
The report indicates that destruction of Sharia courts and their archives and the consequent loss of thousands of legal case files have created a profound legal vacuum that strikes at the core of justice in the Gaza Strip. Many women find themselves in a state of legal uncertainty, unable to resume their previous proceedings, or prove their rights once the courts resume functioning.
In its conclusion, the report stresses that the targeting of Sharia courts and the denial of safe access to justice cannot be viewed in isolation from the broader context of Israel’s ongoing aggression since 7 October 2023. The evidence indicates that the Israeli occupation authorities are pursuing a systematic policy aimed at dismantling Palestinian institutional and legal structures and depriving Palestinian society of its organizational capacity and ability to exercise self-governance. The targeting of the Sharia judiciary is shown to be a deliberate act aimed at dismantling the justice system, undermining social justice, and leaving women and other vulnerable groups without legal protection. The report holds Israel, as the occupying power, legally responsible under the Fourth Geneva Convention and its Additional Protocol I for its obligations to protect civilians and ensure the continuity of the judicial system and civilian institutions.
