Gaza’s silent epidemic
A 9-year-old Palestinian girl who had her right leg amputated, sits on a bed at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah on 24 December 2024
Hadeel Awad writes in Al Jazeera on 15 March 2025:
It has been two months since the ceasefire started in Gaza. Palestinians are still being killed by the Israeli army, but the relentless bombardment has stopped – at least for now. Much-needed aid that was allowed into the Strip was cut off two weeks ago.
What entered in the previous month and a half could hardly resuscitate the collapsed healthcare system in Gaza. So many hospitals and clinics have been destroyed, especially in the north, that humanitarian organisations have had to set up tents to provide basic care for hundreds of thousands of survivors. The medical supplies that came in are already running out.
Amid this continuing torment, the healthcare system in Gaza cannot even begin to recover, much less address the multiple health crises plaguing the civilian population. One of the worst among them is the shocking number of amputees that Israel’s indiscriminate use of explosive weapons for 15 months has left behind.
According to the World Health Organization, as of September 2024, 22,500 people in Gaza had sustained life-altering injuries since October 7, 2023, including severe limb injuries, amputations, spinal cord trauma, traumatic brain injuries and major burns.