More than 21,000 disabled children in Gaza since the war began

The UN Committee has revealed that the ongoing war in Gaza has left at least 21,000 children with disabilities since the conflict between Israel and Hamas erupted on October 7, 2023.

According to the UN Committee regarding the rights of people with disabilities, nearly 40,500 children have suffered “injuries related to new war” for almost two years of battle, with more than half of them now living with permanent disability.

Reviewing the conditions in the Palestinian territory, the Committee reported that the direction of Israeli evacuation during military operations in Gaza “often inaccessible” by people with hearing or visual disorders, effectively making evacuation impossible for many people.

It was stated: “The report also described people with disabilities who were forced to escape in unsafe and non -dignified conditions, such as crawling through sand or mud without the help of mobility.”

The committee also raised concerns about the deteriorating humanitarian crisis, noting that restrictions on the flow of aid to Gaza hit people with very hard disabilities.

“People with disabilities face severe disturbances in assistance, leaving many people without food, clean water, or sanitation and depending on others to survive,” the report said.

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While the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation supported by the US and Israel now runs four distribution points in all pockets, the United Nations system that has been replaced has around 400. War debris and the destruction of mobility aids has hampered access.

The Committee said 83 percent of people with disabilities in Gaza had lost their aid device, with the most unable to buy alternatives such as donkey trains. He warned that important items such as wheelchairs, pedestrians, sticks, magic, and prosthetics were treated as “dual use items” by Israeli authorities, and thus prohibited from humanitarian delivery.

Calling for the delivery of urgent “Humanitarian assistance to people with disabilities,” the UN Agency urged all parties to adopt direct protection steps to prevent “further violence, danger, death and rights deprivation.”

It noted that between 7 October 2023, and August 21 this year, at least 157,114 people in Gaza were injured, with more than 25 percent at risk of lifelong disorders.

The Committee reiterated: “There are at least 21,000 children with disabilities in Gaza as a result of impairment, which was obtained since October 7, 2023.”

Further urged Israel to take concrete steps to protect children with disabilities from attacks and to establish an evacuation protocol that is sensitive to the needs of people with disabilities.

Israel, he added, must also guarantee that people with disabilities are “allowed to return safely to their homes and be helped to do it.”