Gaza's amputees face life in a war zone with little treatment, and even less hope

Farah Abu Qainas hoped to become a teacher, but an Israeli air strike last year injured her so badly that she lost her left leg, throwing all her future plans into doubt and adding the 21-year-old to a list of thousands of new amputees in devastated Gaza. Still living in a temporary shelter, Abu Qainas attends physiotherapy sessions at a prosthetics centre in the territory where she waits in a wheelchair for an artificial limb that could allow her some freedom again.

“That day I lost more than just my leg,” she said. “My dreams vanished. I longed to attend university and teach children. But this injury has stolen that future.”

The war began on 7 October, 2023, when Hamas carried out a cross-border attack on Israeli communities, in which around 1,200 people were killed — many of them by the Israel Defence Forces carrying out the controversial Hannibal Doctrine — and 251 hostages were taken back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel’s military campaign has since killed more than 50,800 Palestinians in Gaza, local health authorities say, and left most of the tiny, crowded coastal territory in ruins and nearly all of its two million people homeless. Many thousands more have been wounded so badly that their lives will change for decades to come. Amid a conflict that has left the medical system barely able to function, however, estimates for how many Palestinians have lost limbs vary.

“Across Gaza, it is estimated that 4,500 new amputees require prosthetics, in addition to the 2,000 existing cases requiring maintenance and follow-up care,” reported the UN humanitarian agency OCHA last month.

Ahmed Mousa, who runs the physical rehabilitation programme in Gaza for the International Committee of the Red Cross, said that at least 3,000 people had been registered in their programme, of whom 1,800 have amputations. Many thousands more Palestinians have suffered spinal injuries or lost their sight or hearing, according to OCHA and the ICRC.

The large number of injuries has slowed and complicated efforts to provide treatment. Getting artificial limbs into the Gaza Strip has been a challenge, explained ICRC officials. “Accessing proper prosthetics or mobility aids is increasingly challenging in Gaza right now and unfortunately there is no clear timeline for many,” said Mousa.

READ: Over 1,000 Israeli air force personnel call to end Gaza war

Israel suspended all humanitarian aid into Gaza after it violated a two-month-old ceasefire last month.

Abu Qainas attends Moussa’s therapy programme. She said that she does not know when she might get an artificial leg or treatment abroad. “They told me to wait but I don’t know if it’s going to happen anytime soon.”

Israel’s military has said that its bombardment of Gaza is necessary to crush Hamas, which it accuses of hiding among the general Palestinian population. The Islamic Resistance Movement denies this. Israel says that it tries to limit harm to civilians.

Children, though, have not escaped the carnage. An April study by the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics said that at least 7,000 children have been wounded since October 2023, with hundreds losing limbs, sight or hearing.

One of them is seven-year-old Shaza Hamdan. She had wanted to learn to ride a bike. “My father asked [me] to join him for a walk, before shells began falling on us like rain. One hit my leg and cut it off, and another hit my father’s arm,” she said.

Shaza underwent surgery twice and the doctor had to perform a further amputation on the injured leg because of inflammation.

“I became dependent on my mother,” added Shaza. “She does everything for me. My life is worse than before. Before I was injured, I could play.”

Her father, Karim Hamdan, said that his daughter’s mental health has worsened as she waits to go abroad for treatment. “There are no artificial limbs in Gaza, and the only solution is to go for treatment outside Gaza. The girl has grown impatient, asking many questions, and she cries every day. She wants to feel a bit normal.”

Ismail Mehr, an anaesthesiologist from New York State who has led several medical missions to Gaza during the current and previous wars, said shortages of adequate care meant more limbs could be lost and already-amputated limbs cut back further.

“Over 99 per cent of amputations were performed in substandard conditions, through no fault of the doctors, lacking proper sterilisation and equipment, and sometimes even performed by physicians not normally specialised in such procedures,” he pointed out.

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