The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) warns that the Israeli Occupation’s prevention of essential assistive devices for amputees and people with disabilities in Gaza- amid the ongoing crime of genocide, relentless bombardment, and new forced displacement orders- amounts to a slow death sentence for thousands of wounded and survivors who have lost their limbs. Deprived of wheelchairs, prosthetics, and crutches, they face the threat of a military ground invasion into Gaza City and mass displacement orders forcing nearly one million Palestinians south,¹ including thousands with disabilities who cannot move or evacuate safely. The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) have already escalated attacks on civilians by bombing residential towers and buildings housing people with disabilities, leaving them only minutes to escape while stripped of the basic means to guarantee their right to life and safety.

Since the beginning of the genocidal war against the population of the Gaza Strip, around 5,000 female and male Palestinian have lost their limbs in what doctors describe as one of the worst amputation crises the world has witnessed in centuries. Doctors interviewed by our researchers confirmed that most of these cases could have been prevented if Gaza’s health system had not collapsed under severe shortages of medicines, medical supplies, and surgical equipment. This deficit has forced medical teams to resort to amputations as the only remaining option to save lives.²

This crime has turned the Gaza Strip into a place with the highest number of child amputees per capita in the world,³ reflecting the scale of this miserable, worsening humanitarian catastrophe. The crisis is compounded by the injured’s urgent need for reconstructive surgeries and prosthetics, which are unavailable in Gaza. Only a very limited number have been allowed to travel abroad for treatment, which is either partial or inadequate. The majority of these child amputees are left in extremely dire war conditions, deprived of post-operative medical care and rehabilitation programs. These realities constitute a flagrant violation of their fundamental rights. Beyond the physical loss of limbs, children bear deep psychological and social scars that threaten their normal development and future

“My 8-year-old child, Rajab-the eldest of my children and the joy of our family- was once active, joyful, sociable, and exceptional at school. He loved riding his bike. But this war has stolen his childhood. From the beginning, he has been traumatized by loud explosions, suffering repeated panic attacks. He cannot sleep unless he holds my hand. The killing of his uncles left him deeply shaken, and he has clung to me ever since. On 13 December 2024, while we were displaced in a classroom at Al-Falah School, Israeli warplanes struck directly, and everything collapsed on us. My brother Hasan, my mother, and my sister-in-law were killed, while the rest of us were wounded. Rajab was the most critically injured. The rubble fell on him, shredding his right leg, which had to be amputated immediately upon arrival at the hospital. He also sustained a skull fracture and shrapnel wounds across his left leg. His condition was life-threatening. After three days in a coma, he woke up to find himself without a leg. Since that day, our family has not known rest. Rajab endured successive surgeries, enduring pain unbearable for a child, often crying in despair and wishing for death rather than this suffering. He has become quick-tempered and overly sensitive. He refuses to let anyone see his amputated leg, telling me, ‘I want to cover it.’

His ordeal did not end there. In July, doctors discovered that he suffers from severe osteoporosis caused by lack of food and medicine. They were forced to insert internal platinum plates and fit him with an external cast. Now, Rajab lives between tears and pain. He feels incomplete when he sees his cousins playing around him. He tries to join them but eventually retreats to cry in silence. As his mother, I can do nothing but watch him suffer, powerless to give him back the childhood that the occupation has stolen from him.”

Mrs. Sajedah al-Baba (25), resident of al-Sabra neighborhood, Gaza City.⁴

According to the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, the number of amputees and patients with spinal cord and brain injuries resulting from the Israeli aggression on Gaza between 2023 and 2025 has risen to 4,800 registered cases. Medical authorities, in coordination with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), conducted an assessment of 2,889 amputation cases; of these, 953 patients were referred for treatment abroad, but only 54 were actually able to travel. Data indicate that amputation cases constituted the majority, with 1,830 cases (63%), compared to 1,059 cases (37%) involving brain and spinal cord injuries, including 231 spinal cord injuries (SCI) and 159 traumatic brain injuries (TBI).⁵

Data reveal that men constituted the majority of the injured, accounting for 77%, compared to 23% women. Figures show that the most affected age group was men aged 18–59, with 1,651 injuries, followed by boys under 18 with 633 injuries, then girls under 18 with 383 injuries, while 222 injuries were recorded among the elderly over 60. Geographically, Gaza City recorded the highest number of injuries with 1,101, followed by North Gaza with 726, the Central Governorate with 480, Khan Younis with 356, and Rafah with 226.⁶

According to follow-up by PCHR researchers, amputees and people with disabilities in the Gaza Strip have long been deliberately deprived of mobility aids such as wheelchairs, prosthetics, and crutches during the ongoing genocide. The IOF have denied their access to or possession of such devices, forcing many to crawl long distances to move or flee bombardments, thereby causing further injuries. The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported that Israeli authorities have imposed strict measures that deprive more than 83% of people with disabilities of their most basic right to access assistive devices, under the pretext that they are listed as “dual-use” items. ⁷ This systematic denial has deepened suffering, especially as thousands lost their assistive devices during forced displacement or under the rubble of their destroyed homes, making it exponentially difficult for them to move, access treatment, or live with dignity.

Before the war, I worked at a petrol station and lived a normal life with my family. But the war has changed everything. In November 2023, my 7-year-old daughter, Rital, was wounded and had her hand amputated. A few months later, in February 2024, I myself was injured in a strike while being forcibly displaced from Rafah. Both of my legs were amputated. I spent a long time in hospitals, drifting between coma and treatment. After being discharged, the bigger struggle began: the lack of medicines and painkillers. The IOF prevent the entry of essential treatments, and even food suitable for patients was unavailable. We survived only on canned food. I received a wheelchair from the Emirati Field Hospital in Rafah, but over time it wore out and is no longer suitable for my condition. Gaza City’s roads are destroyed-covered in rubble, sand, and deep holes-making wheelchairs nearly useless. Every time I need to move, I must rely on someone to carry or accompany me. Even accessing physiotherapy has become a daily ordeal. What should be a step toward healing has turned into a journey of torment. My sessions are at Prince Hamad Hospital in North Gaza, 7 kilometers away from my displacement site. I am forced to go in my wheelchair across the destroyed, sandy roads, accompanied by my son Majd until I reach the hospital, where a friend waits to help me on the way back. Due to the Israeli-imposed siege on the Gaza Strip and the ban on entry of essential assistive devices, I cannot obtain a power wheelchair that would ease my suffering. My greatest fear today, amid IOF threats to evacuate Gaza City as they did before, is that people will be forced to walk long distances along destroyed, rubble-strewn roads. I have lost both of my legs and do not have a power wheelchair or any alternative means to move. The manual wheelchair I own is worn out and completely unsuitable for travel on such sandy roads full of rubble and holes. Amid these evacuation orders, I will not be able to move. This would sentence me to death and worsen the suffering of my entire family, who will not leave me behind. My wife and four children will remain trapped with me, exposed to danger because they refuse to abandon me. This is the greatest tragedy for amputees and the wounded in Gaza—being left without any means of survival in the face of death.”

Mr. Hamzah ‘Abed Naser Salem (33), resident of Jabalia refugee camp, northern Gaza Strip and currently displaced in Gaza City.⁸

In recent months of war, the Gaza Strip has been left without any specialized centers for the treatment of amputees after the IOF destroyed Prince Hamad Bin Jassim Hospital and Al-Wafaa Rehabilitation Hospital, as well as the Orthopedics Departments in several hospitals-most notably Al-Shifa Medical Complex, which housed vital medical imaging devices for advanced diagnostic procedures. Amid this devastation, the little remaining hope is fading as the prosthetics center operated by the Gaza Municipality, specialized in manufacturing and repairing prosthetics, is now at risk of total shutdown. This comes as a result of ongoing IOF evacuation threats, the suffocating siege, the ban on essential supplies under the so-called ‘dual-use’ list, as well as chronic power outages and the fuel crisis.⁹

PCHR emphasizes that Israeli policies have made access to treatment or escape from dangerous areas nearly impossible for people with disabilities in the Gaza Strip, after deliberately stripping them of medicines and assistive devices through a systematic policy targeting the most vulnerable groups. The amputation injuries inflicted on thousands of children and adults constitute acts of genocide, particularly under the second act defined in Article 2 of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and Article 6 of the Rome Statute: Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group. Amputation is not only the loss of a limb but a permanent disability that restricts independence and prevents active participation in society. Its consequences extend deeply to affect the psychological status, leaving survivors with ongoing trauma, loss of confidence, and feelings of helplessness—barriers that deny them the possibility of living a normal and stable life

PCHR further considers the deprivation of patients from their right to medical treatment, medicines, and travel for treatment outside the besieged Gaza Strip as a systematic policy of collective punishment imposed by the Israeli authorities against Palestinian civilians. This conduct constitutes a flagrant violation of the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which requires the occupying power to ensure healthcare and bring what is necessary for the survival of the civilian population, in line with Articles 55 and 56. It also constitutes a direct violation of Israel’s obligations under the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which guarantees the right to mobility aids, medical treatment, and the ability to live independently and in dignity.

PCHR calls upon the international community to take immediate action to compel the Israeli authorities to halt the ongoing crime of genocide against civilians in the Gaza Strip and to guarantee the unrestricted entry of assistive devices, prosthetics, and essential medicines. PCHR further urges the United Nations and its specialized agencies to establish safe humanitarian corridors and facilitate the immediate evacuation of patients and amputees for treatment abroad, as this is a right enshrined under international law. PCHR also calls on the International Criminal Court to promptly open an investigation into these grave violations that amount to acts of genocide and urges State Parties to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities to exert serious political and legal pressure to ensure the protection of persons with disabilities and enable them to live in full dignity.

1. Official Page of the of Government Activities in the Occupied Territories (COGAT),Link ↩︎
2. Testimonies by several doctors and orthopedic specialists at Nasser Medical Hospital and Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in central and southern Gaza Strip, provided to PCHR’s researcher on 06 September 2025. ↩︎
3. Link ↩︎
4. A testimony obtained by PCHR’s researcher on 13 August 2025. ↩︎
5. PCHR researcher’s interview with Mr. Zaher al-Wheidi, Director of the Health Information Unit in the Ministry of Health on 07 September 2025. ↩︎
6. Ibid ↩︎
7. UN News: Trapped in Gaza: Palestinians with disabilities cannot reach aid, 15 August 2025:Link ↩︎
8. A testimony obtained by PCHR’s researcher on 26 August 2025. ↩︎
9. A testimony by Neveen al-Ghussein, Acting Director of the Prosthetics Center in Gaza City, 08 September 2025. ↩︎