Gaza: Explosive weapons left 15 children a day with potentially lifelong disabilities in 2024. January 14, 2025. Reliefweb. Key Points.

Detailed points highlighting the humanitarian crisis affecting children in Gaza due to explosive weapons in 2024 and early 2025:

Impact on Children’s Health and Disabilities

Injury and Disability Statistics:

On average, 475 children per month (15 per day) sustained injuries leading to potential lifelong disabilities in 2024.

At least 5,230 children required significant rehabilitation support that was inaccessible due to the ongoing conflict.

Injuries include loss of limbs, hearing impairments, and vision loss.

Psychological trauma and mental health issues remain pervasive but largely undocumented.

Decimation of Gaza’s Health System:

Gaza’s only limb reconstruction and rehabilitation center ceased functioning in December 2023.

Medical facilities suffer from severe shortages of staff, medical supplies, and equipment due to restrictions on aid entry.

Treatment for complex injuries and prosthetic adjustments for growing children is currently impossible in Gaza.

Key Challenges to Treatment and Rehabilitation

Unhealed Wounds Due to Malnutrition:

Malnourished children face severe complications in wound healing, leading to increased amputations.

Inaccessible Specialist Care:

Regular prosthetic reviews needed every six months are unattainable.

Children requiring long-term orthopedic care risk crippling secondary health problems, such as osteoarthritis and spinal deformities.

Real-life Stories

Ahmad’s Story:

A five-year-old boy lost his father and one arm when a shelter school was bombed.

Ahmad expressed his grief by asking for a clay arm and a clay "Baba" (father) during a counseling session.

He was one of the few children evacuated to Egypt for treatment, but thousands of others remain trapped without care.

Medical Experts’ Perspectives

Dr. Ana Jeelani emphasized that injuries to growing bones result in permanent growth cessation and deformities.

Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah reported that many babies have suffered amputations before learning to walk, affecting developmental milestones and coordination.

Long-Term Health Implications

Children who lost limbs face risks of:

Joint replacements in their 20s or 30s due to disproportionate pressure on healthy joints.

Early osteoarthritis and spinal deformities.

Mental Health Crisis

Children experience severe emotional trauma from witnessing violence and losing loved ones.

Access to mental health services is limited despite the growing need for psychological support.

International and Humanitarian Response

Save the Children’s Efforts:

Active in Gaza since 1953, providing vital aid, including food, water, hygiene kits, and winter supplies.

Reached over 1 million people across 50 locations in Gaza.

Delivered child-friendly spaces, mental health programming, and malnutrition treatment.

Calls for Action:

Ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian aid access are urgently needed.

Governments supplying weapons must be held accountable under international law.

World Health Organization (WHO):

Reports that 22,500 people in Gaza have life-changing injuries requiring long-term rehabilitation.

Existing chronic conditions worsen due to collapsed healthcare services.

Legal and Human Rights Considerations

The International Court of Justice warns of a plausible risk of genocide in Gaza.

Save the Children urges the lifting of restrictions on aid and an immediate end to violence affecting children.

Conclusion

The compounded effects of war injuries, health system collapse, and mental trauma threaten the future of Palestinian society. Urgent, sustained international intervention is critical to preventing further humanitarian catastrophe.

Source:

https://reliefweb.int/report/occupied-palestinian-territory/gaza-explosive-weapons-left-15-children-day-potentially-lifelong-disabilities-2024

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