Today, 26 March 2025, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) issued a new report titled: “Severed Bodies, Shattered Souls: Women in Gaza Victims of Genocide”. The report highlights the widespread cases of amputations among women due to the Israeli military aggression and highlights that these injuries have not only caused bodily harm but also led to profound psychological pain, with women’s endurance of challenging conditions amid a devastated healthcare system and a strangulating Israeli siege. The report also confirms that these injuries, particularly limb amputation cases, fall under the second act of genocide, embodied in “Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group”, according to Article II of the Genocide Convention, as well as Article 6 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). These injuries lead to permanent disabilities that obstruct victims’ ability to move, work, be productive, and socially integrate, as well as causing severe trauma and ongoing disorders that profoundly affect amputee women’s lives.

The report features that the IOF, as part of their genocidal war, launched indiscriminate and brutal bombardment on the Gaza Strip, targeting women without distinction and inflicting hundreds of injuries that led to limb amputations due to the use of advanced massively destructive weaponry. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health (MOH), the number of women who have had their upper or lower limbs amputated since October 7^th has reached 391, out of 4,500 cases. This coincided with the collapse of the healthcare system due to the targeting of hospitals and medical personnel, alongside the suffocating siege that deprived the Strip of essential supplies.

Amid the severe shortage of medical staff and equipment, doctors had to perform amputations on cases that could have been treated, often without anesthesia or in inhumane conditions, leading to serious complications that impair prosthetic fitting and comfort and worsen disabilities. After amputee women leave hospitals, they face a harsh reality in shelters that lack even the most basic medical care and psychological support, exacerbating their physical pain and psychological trauma and making recovery and adaptation to disability nearly impossible.

PCHR’s staff documented 17 testimonies from women who lost their limbs due to Israeli attacks on Gaza. These testimonies document both the severe physical and psychological harm inflicted on them. These women describe the terrifying moments they endured during airstrikes and explosions, as well as their new reality after amputation, especially given the collapse of the healthcare system and the lack of psychological support. They have been deprived of normal lives, their roles as mothers, and their ability to work and be productive, suddenly finding themselves facing a harsh reality of disability and dependency. With no medical or rehabilitative support available, they have no choice but to wait for the Israeli siege on Gaza to end, hoping to get prosthetic limbs that may restore a part of their stolen lives.

This report confirms that limb amputation injuries among women in Gaza fall under the second act of genocide, embodied in “Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group”, according to Article II of the Genocide Convention, as well as Article 6 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Serious harm in this context is defined as inflicting severe physical injuries, such as disfigurement and amputation, while mental harm includes trauma that significantly impacts social life and the ability to integrate into society. Although the harm does not have to be permanent, it must be sufficiently grave and have long-term detrimental effects on a person’s ability to lead a normal and constructive life.

Through testimonies documented in this report, many women in Gaza have suffered limb amputations due to the Israeli indiscriminate attacks, leading to permanent disabilities that deeply affected their roles as mothers, workers, and productive members of society, forever altering the course of their lives. The amputation exceeds the severe physical harm and causes a permanent disability that inflicts long-term psychological consequences, including social isolation, deteriorating relationships, and hopelessness in future. For women, psychological impact is even more severe as they endure compounded challenges related to their reproductive and social roles. Amputee women suffer from profound psychological distress stemming from their feeling that their role has become incomplete. These feelings lead to depression and profound and long-lasting psychological trauma. Also, feelings of frustration may push some into self-isolation, further worsening their mental state and reducing their ability to actively participate in the community both economically and socially.

PCHR urges the international community to assume its legal and moral responsibilities and exert pressure on Israel to implement a ceasefire and end the genocide against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. Additionally, PCHR calls on states to impose a comprehensive arms embargo on Israel, including the suspension of all arms trade agreements, and to prevent the transfer of dual-use items that could be used to commit genocide. Furthermore, international efforts must be scaled up to ensure a lasting ceasefire in the Gaza strip in a way that provides effective protection for women and all Gaza’s population, and decisive actions must be taken to hold Israeli leaders accountable for the crimes committed against the Palestinian people and bring them to justice. Additionally, further pressure should also be excreted to open all Gaza’s crossings in order to ensure the evacuation of injured women and enable them to receive urgent medical treatment. Finally, an inclusive rehabilitation program for amputee women in the Gaza Strip must be established, including providing prosthetic limbs and sustainable healthcare, along with offering economic empowerment opportunities and social integration to mitigate the effects of disability.