Press Release
Gaza's Children with Disabilities are the Most Suffering Victims of the War
The ongoing disastrous war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, has affected all aspects of life, including people, trees, stones, and resources, especially women and children, with death and destruction spreading everywhere. According to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, it has resulted in the death of more than 63,000 people and the injury of about 160,000 others, in addition to the displacement of hundreds of thousands, amid a suffocating humanitarian crisis that includes a shortage of food, medicine, and potable water.
According to a recent UN committee report, they were informed that 157,114 people were injured between October 7, 2023, and August 21 of this year, 25% of whom face the risk of lifelong disabilities. It announced that about 40,500 children sustained war-related injuries during the two-year period since the outbreak of the war, and more than half of them suffer from disabilities. At least 21,000 children in Gaza have become disabled!!
The committee said that people with hearing or vision problems were often unaware of the evacuation orders from the occupation forces, making displacement impossible for them, and some were killed without knowing about the evacuation orders.
Some were also forced to flee in unsafe and undignified conditions, such as crawling on sand or mud without help to move. They also face significant disruptions in humanitarian aid, leaving many without food, clean water, or hygiene, and dependent on others to survive, especially as they are unable to access it.
Children have had a significant share of these disabilities, as they have become the preferred targets of the occupation in the ongoing war of extermination, and every raid can mean the amputation of a child's leg, or paralysis that accompanies him for life, or a deformity that changes his features and leaves a permanent mark, leaving him facing the possibility of losing an entire future in a single moment. Likewise, they do not find medical care, assistive devices, or even sufficient food in displacement tents and shelters. With the destruction of most hospitals and the shortage of medicines and medical equipment, children with disabilities are the most vulnerable to health neglect; as many of them need regular physiotherapy sessions, permanent medicines, and prosthetics; however, the complete interruption of medical services has turned these necessities into a distant dream. As for the psychological aspect, it is torn between the fear of raids, hunger, and hopelessness, so that their daily life becomes an endless series of suffering.
All of this and more is happening before the ears and eyes of the whole world, with its institutions and associations that claim humanity and rights, and what they do does not go beyond formal protests here, or the submission of reports there, or an attempt to bring in aid that does not nourish or satisfy hunger! And the Muslim rulers are busy preserving their chairs and thrones on the remains and blood of Muslims and their suffering, especially in Gaza, oblivious and heedless of his saying ﷺ: "There is no person who forsakes a Muslim in a place where his sanctity is violated and his honor is diminished, but Allah will forsake him in a place where he loves his victory, and there is no person who helps a Muslim in a place where his honor is diminished and his sanctity is violated, but Allah will help him in a place where he loves his victory." And the day of retribution from them is near, God willing.
Women's Section
In the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir