Israel war causes ‘pandemic of disabilities, highest number of child amputees' in Gaza: UNRWA chief

Israel’s ongoing war has caused a “pandemic of disabilities” in the Gaza Strip, with the enclave suffering the highest number of child amputees in the world, the head of the UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) said on Tuesday, Anadolu Agency reports.

“Before the war, one in five families surveyed had at least one person with disabilities. Nearly half of them included a child with disabilities,” UNRWA Commissioner-General, Philippe Lazzarini, said in a statement.

“During this war, people needing special care have suffered in silence. Their stories are rarely told.”

The Israeli war, Lazzarini said, has also caused “an epidemic of traumatic injuries” with no rehabilitation services available.

“Now, Gaza has the highest number of child amputees per capita in the world – many losing limbs and undergoing surgeries without even anaesthesia,” he added.

The World Health Organisation estimates that “one in four people injured during the war sustained life-changing injuries and will need rehabilitation services, including care for amputations and spinal cords injuries,” the UNRWA chief said.

Since launching its genocidal war on Gaza following a Hamas attack in October last year, Israel has killed over 44,500 Palestinians – most of them women and children – and injured more than 105,000, according to official figures.

The second year of the genocide in Gaza has drawn widespread international condemnation, with starvation tactics and blocking humanitarian aid deliveries denounced as deliberate attempts to destroy an entire population.

Last month, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and former Defence Minister, Yoav Gallant, accusing them of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for its actions in Gaza, which have drawn mounting international condemnation.

READ: Israel’s ‘genocidal campaign’ left people with disabilities ‘completely unprotected’ in Gaza: UN