‘Pandemic of Disabilities’ – Gaza Records over 4,000 Amputations
“The sole rehabilitation hospital, Hamad Hospital, and Gaza’s prosthetics center have been completely destroyed.”
More than 4,000 amputations and 2,000 cases of spinal and brain injuries have been recorded in the besieged Gaza Strip since the start of Israel’s genocidal offensive in October last year.
“The majority of those who have lost limbs are children,” Mohammad Abu Salmiya, Director of the Al-Shifa Medical Complex, said during a press conference to mark the International Day of Persons with Disabilities held at Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza last week, the Middle East Monitor (MEMO) reported.
“More than 4,000 people have had their upper or lower limbs amputated since the beginning of the genocide,” he said, adding that over 2,000 people with spinal and brain injuries are now bedridden and in urgent need of rehabilitation.”
Thousands more have suffered hearing and vision impairments due to the relentless bombardments, the official noted.
Referrals abroad Denied
Abu Salmiya emphasized that approximately 14,000 patients and injured individuals were on the waiting list for medical referrals abroad.
He pointed out that since the closure of the Rafah crossing, Israel has permitted only 300 patients to travel for treatment.
“The health system in Gaza lies in ruins, with no medical care or facilities available. The sole rehabilitation hospital, Hamad Hospital, and Gaza’s prosthetics center have been completely destroyed,” said Abu Salmiya.
The official also demanded the entry of medical supplies for people with disabilities, emphasizing that they now lack even the most basic necessities, such as wheelchairs and crutches.
‘Pandemic of Disabilities’
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini has described the situation in Gaza as a “pandemic of disabilities.”
He noted that before the war, “one in five families surveyed had at least one person with disabilities. Nearly half of them included a child with disabilities.”
“Now, Gaza has the highest number of child amputees per capita in the world — many losing limbs & undergoing surgeries without even anesthesia,” Lazzarini said.
He added that the World Health Organization (WHO) estimated that one in four people injured during the war “sustained life-changing injuries & will need rehabilitation services, including care for amputations & spinal cords injuries.”
The war has “also caused an epidemic of traumatic injuries with no rehabilitation services available,” Lazzarini said.
Ongoing Genocide
Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza.
Currently on trial before the International Court of Justice for genocide against Palestinians, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7.
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 44,758 Palestinians have been killed, and 106,134 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7, 2023.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
Israel says that 1,200 soldiers and civilians were killed during the Al-Aqsa Flood Operation on October 7. Israeli media published reports suggesting that many Israelis were killed on that day by ‘friendly fire’.
Palestinian and international organizations say that the majority of those killed and wounded are women and children.
Famine and Displacement
The Israeli war has resulted in an acute famine, mostly in northern Gaza, resulting in the death of many Palestinians, mostly children.
The Israeli aggression has also resulted in the forceful displacement of nearly two million people from all over the Gaza Strip, with the vast majority of the displaced forced into the densely crowded southern city of Rafah near the border with Egypt – in what has become Palestine’s largest mass exodus since the 1948 Nakba.
Later in the war, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians began moving from the south to central Gaza in a constant search for safety.
(PC, MEMO)