Gaza: Wheelchairs, prosthetics and rehabilitation care urgently needed

• 42,000 people in the Gaza Strip have sustained life-changing injuries from the conflict, including one in four children.
• These injuries require long-term rehabilitation, mobility aids, prosthetics, and specialised care.
• Humanity & Inclusion’s 100-strong team is ready to scale up activities which include distributing assistive devices like crutches and wheelchairs and fitting prosthetics.
• Humanitarian access is essential, with stocks of assistive devices running out in Gaza, and new supplies still waiting at the border.

In the last 2 years, more than 69,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and close to 170,000 wounded, leaving thousands with life-long injuries and disabilities. Humanitarian organisations including Humanity & Inclusion have warned repeatedly of an unprecedented human catastrophe amid mounting evidence of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. 

Humanity & Inclusion’s local teams, themselves deeply impacted by the conflict, never stopped delivering support to Palestinians children and adults in Gaza. This includes rehabilitation for injured and disabled people, recreational activities for children, mental health support and awareness sessions teaching families how to protect themselves from bombing and unexploded weapons. With the ceasefire now in place, the organisation is ready to scale up our activities. 

Huge rehabilitation needs to meet

According to the latest figures from the World Health Organisation   nearly 42,000 people in the Gaza Strip are living with life-changing injuries from the ongoing conflict - one in four are children. This represents one quarter of all reported injuries (167,376 people) since October 2023.

These injuries require long-term rehabilitation, prosthetics, and specialised care. Yet less than one-third of pre-conflict rehabilitation services remain partially functional, with many on the verge of closure. The rehabilitation workforce has been decimated, with dozens of specialised healthcare workers killed and many displaced. Rehabilitation support is essential for survival, recovery and the chance for the injured to rebuild independent lives.

Assistive devices and prosthetic components waiting at the border 

 “With this ceasefire we are ready to scale up our activities: we have stocks ready at the border that have been there for months. These are mainly assistive devices: wheelchairs, crutches, prosthetic components.  Nearly 42 000 people in the Gaza Strip have life-changing injuries.  One in four of these injuries are in children.”

“There is a very high demand for assistive devices and medical equipment but our prosthetics and orthotics centre in Khan Younis is about to run out of many items, including those specifically designed for children.” 

“Our team of 100 people in Gaza is ready to deliver aid and services. Most of them have been working around the clock over the past few months. Despite being exhausted and impacted by the war, having been displaced and lacking food, we have remained fully operational. Some areas are unreachable for security reasons, but we hope to deliver aid and services there in the coming days, as soon as we have unfettered access,” says Anne-Claire Yaeesh, Humanity & Inclusion Country Director for the occupied Palestinian Territories.

Countless Palestinians have lost limbs

“I have never faced such a dire situation. Countless Palestinians have lost limbs in Israeli bombings. Children are so traumatised by the daily airstrikes that they can no longer sleep. Some can no longer speak. Some have told us that they wish to die so that they can join their parents in heaven. All families have been displaced,” adds Anne Claire.

Notes

Spokespersons available for interview: 

• Anne-Claire Yaeesh, Humanity & Inclusion Country Director for the occupied Palestinian Territories.

Humanity & Inclusion’s response in Gaza:

Humanity & Inclusion has been working in the Occupied Palestinian Territories since 1996, providing rehabilitation, psychosocial support, access to education and adaptation of homes for people with disabilities.

Since October 2023, Humanity & Inclusion's local teams have provided emergency medical care and psychological first aid, distributed hygiene kits and taught people how to stay as safe as possible from bombings and explosive contamination.

Humanity & Inclusion is collecting donations to support its work in Gaza at: www.humanity-inclusion.org.uk/en/gaza-crisis