By Shizza Umer
A Widow, Six Children and an Inaccessible Inheritance
For Salma Abdel Hadi, losing her husband was only the beginning of another struggle.
The 38-year-old Palestinian mother of six says her husband was killed in an Israeli airstrike in August 2025. Since then, she has struggled to obtain the inheritance certificate required to access approximately $5,000 in his bank account.
According to an October 13 investigation by Drop Site News, Salma is raising her children in displacement while trying to secure their financial future.
She also alleges that her late husband’s brother took possession of his vehicle, which she estimates is worth approximately $20,000.
Her account illustrates a wider problem: surviving relatives may possess legal entitlements but lack the documents and functioning institutions needed to exercise them.
The Destruction of Gaza’s Courts
Israeli forces demolished sections of Gaza’s Palace of Justice in December 2023.
Amnesty International’s investigation examined military footage and satellite imagery. It identified major destruction by December 3, 2023, and found that the remaining structure appeared to have collapsed between February 21 and 22, 2024.
Amnesty concluded that the available evidence did not establish military necessity justifying the demolition.
The damage extended beyond this complex.
Judicial officials interviewed by Drop Site News reported that approximately half of Gaza’s Sharia court premises were completely destroyed. They also reported three judges and 20 judicial personnel killed, figures attributed to those officials rather than independently established totals for every judicial institution.
Three temporary court locations were established, but officials described limited capacity, substantial backlogs and prolonged delays.
Although some essential judicial services continue, ordinary access to justice remains severely disrupted.
The Records That Cannot Simply Be Rebuilt
Reconstructing a courthouse does not automatically restore its missing records.
The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights reported in December 2025 that only approximately 10% of Sharia court rulings and case documents had been electronically archived before the war.
The organisation also estimated that more than 10,000 cases may have experienced missing files or disrupted proceedings, drawing on historical caseloads rather than a verified inventory of destroyed files.
A separate DCAF justice-sector assessment documented efforts to recover court computers, hard drives and archives.
It also explained a critical procedural obstacle: inheritance certificates could not routinely be issued when required civil death certificates were unavailable.
These are distinct documents. A death certificate establishes a person’s death, while an inheritance certificate identifies the legally entitled heirs.
Losing access to either can obstruct financial and property claims.
Another Woman, Another Unresolved Case
The consequences extend beyond inheritance.
Aida Hamid, 32, told Drop Site News that her divorce proceedings remained unresolved amid the disruption of court services.
She says she has been unable to recover financial entitlements worth approximately 7,000 Jordanian dinars, around $9,900, and remains legally married despite her separation.
Her experience illustrates how interrupted proceedings can delay divorce, maintenance and financial independence.
Legal aid organisations continue assisting families, but documentation problems, displaced personnel and limited judicial capacity remain serious obstacles.
A Crisis That Could Outlast the War
In September 2026, UN Women estimated that approximately 86,290 households in Gaza were headed by women, nearly one in four households.
This is not a count of women denied inheritance or access to courts. It illustrates the scale of responsibility borne by women amid displacement and economic insecurity.
For Salma, Aida and other families, restoring justice will require more than rebuilding courtrooms.
It will require recovering records, restoring documentation services, resolving pending cases and ensuring that legal decisions can be enforced.
Because rebuilding a home is one challenge.
Proving that it belongs to you may become another.
Sources
Drop Site News, October 13, 2026
https://www.dropsitenews.com/p/gaza-women-judiciary-sharia-courts-inheritance-rights
Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, December 2025
https://pchrgaza.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Absance-of-Sharia-Judiciaries-EN-1.pdf
Amnesty International, December 2024
https://www.amnesty.org/en/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/MDE1586682024ENGLISH.pdf
DCAF, February 2025
UN Women, September 2026
