The World Health Organization said Thursday that almost 42,000 people in Gaza, around one in four of them children, have been left with “life-changing injuries” such as amputations, brain trauma and spinal damage since the Zionist assault on the enclave began nearly two years ago.
According to a new assessment by the UN health agency, roughly a quarter of those wounded in the conflict will live with severe disabilities for the rest of their lives.
“Life-long rehabilitation will be required,” warned Richard Peeperkorn, the WHO’s representative in the Palestinian territories.
The war, which erupted after Hamas’s deadly incursion inside the Zionist entity on October 7, 2023, has since killed more than 66,000 Palestinians, according to figures from Gaza’s health ministry — numbers the UN regards as credible. Nearly 170,000 others have been injured.
The WHO report, based on information from 22 partner emergency medical teams, the Gaza health ministry and other organizations, estimated that 41,844 people had sustained permanent injuries.
It noted that over 5,000 had undergone amputations, though the real figure may be higher since it does not include limbs lost at the moment of injury before reaching a clinic.
“Children appear to be disproportionately vulnerable to amputations,” said Pete Skelton, the report’s lead author.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said “the most common injuries requiring rehabilitation are blast injuries to legs and arms”, while other devastating wounds include spinal cord damage, traumatic brain injuries, major burns, and “severe facial and eye injuries … resulting in significant impairment and disfigurement”.
The agency stressed that rehabilitation services are urgently needed. But Tedros cautioned that “just when they are needed most, attacks, insecurity and displacement have put them out of reach”.
“The explosions that cause these injuries also destroy the health facilities and services needed to deal with them,” he added.
The WHO said Gaza’s already fragile health system is collapsing, with only 14 of 36 hospitals still partly functioning.
Before the war, the territory had some 1,300 physiotherapists and 400 occupational therapists. Many have since been displaced or killed, while only eight prosthetists remain to serve thousands of new amputees.
