Ten children a day losing a limb in Gaza, warns UN-backed body
Palestinian children queue for a portion of hot food distributed by a charity kitchen at the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza, on 15 July 2025
Alex MacDonald reports in Middle East Eye on 16 July 2025:
Ten children a day are losing one or both limbs in Gaza due to Israel’s assault on the Palestinian enclave, a report warned on Tuesday.
According to an update by the UN-sponsored Global Protection Cluster, Israeli attacks on Gaza have “destroyed the protection environment” of the disabled and newly disabled in the enclave. The report said 134,105 people including over 40,500 children have suffered new war-related injuries since the war began in October 2023.
Twenty-five percent are estimated to have new disabilities requiring acute and ongoing rehabilitation. “There is no safe space in Gaza. Twenty months of intense hostilities have destroyed the protection environment for persons with disabilities and older persons,” it said.
“Over 35,000 people are believed to have significant hearing damage due to explosions. Ten children per day lose one or both of their legs.”
According to the report, Gaza’s only limb reconstruction and rehabilitation centre became non-functional in December 2023 due to a lack of supplies and specialised health workers, and was severely damaged in air strikes in February 2024, depriving children and adults of life-saving services.
Rights groups and NGOs say the war on Gaza has had a devastating effect on the children of the enclave. The Palestinian Ministry of Health says that more than 17,000 of the 58,573 Palestinians killed since October 2023 are children and that they account for 30 percent of the total injuries. An average of 15 children per day acquire potentially life-altering disabilities, the ministry said.
“Gaza now has the highest number of child amputees per capita anywhere in the world – many losing limbs and undergoing surgeries without even anaesthesia,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said.