UN says 21,000 Gaza children disabled since war began in 2023
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A UN committee reports that "Israel's" war on Gaza has left over 21,000 children disabled, with aid restrictions and inaccessible evacuations worsening conditions for people with disabilities.
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Five-year-old Palestinian Sila Abu Aqlan sits on her wheelchair as a doctor adjusts the cover on her right amputated leg at the Artificial Limbs and Polio Center in Gaza City, Feb. 26, 2025 (AP)
The United Nations Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) has sounded the alarm over a growing disability crisis in Gaza, reporting that the ongoing conflict has left tens of thousands of children permanently injured.
Since the outbreak of war on October 7, 2023, more than 40,500 children have sustained new injuries, and over half of them are now living with disabilities. "There are at least 21,000 children with disabilities in Gaza as a result of impairments acquired since October 7, 2023," the committee said.
The committee raised concerns that evacuation instructions issued during Israeli military operations were "often inaccessible" to people with hearing or visual impairments, rendering escape "impossible." "Reports also described people with disabilities being forced to flee in unsafe and undignified conditions, such as crawling through sand or mud without mobility assistance," it added.
His hands and legs are still in a cast... A painful scene of an injured child walking the streets of Gaza carrying an empty water bottle, searching for something to quench his thirst amid the intensifying siege and ongoing Israeli aggression on the Strip. pic.twitter.com/qcrDw6CpWf
— Wissam Shabat 𓂆 🇵🇸 (@wissamshabat) August 17, 2025
Aid Restrictions and Shrinking Distribution
The humanitarian response has deteriorated sharply. What was once a UN-led system with nearly 400 distribution points has been replaced by a private US- and "Israel"-backed initiative operating only four centers across Gaza. Many residents are unable to reach these locations due to destroyed infrastructure, debris, or the loss of mobility aids.
"People with disabilities faced severe disruptions in assistance, leaving many without food, clean water, or sanitation and dependent on others for survival," the committee warned.
The report noted that 83 percent of disabled people had lost their mobility devices, with wheelchairs, crutches, splints, and prosthetics largely unavailable. These items remain blocked from entering Gaza as "Israel" classifies them as "dual-use" materials, a designation that excludes them from humanitarian shipments.
Call for Urgent Protection and Aid
Between October 2023 and August 2025, at least 157,114 people were injured in Gaza, with more than a quarter at risk of lifelong impairments, according to the committee. It called for "massive humanitarian aid to persons with disabilities" and urged all parties to adopt measures to prevent "further violence, harm, deaths, and deprivation of rights."
The review also pressed "Israel" to ensure evacuation plans take into account the needs of disabled people and to guarantee that those displaced are able to "return safely to their homes and are assisted in doing so."
Read more: Gaza home to largest number of amputee children in modern history: UN
Wider Humanitarian Concerns
Independent medical and humanitarian organizations have reported parallel findings: children now make up a significant proportion of Gaza’s amputees and trauma patients, with hospitals overwhelmed by blast injuries. Thousands of young amputees face little access to rehabilitation or prosthetics, and only a fraction of medical needs are being met as Gaza’s health system buckles under shortages of supplies and staff.
Rights groups further warn that people with disabilities face multiple layers of hardship, limited access to education, healthcare, and aid, alongside heightened risks during forced displacement. Many who lost their assistive devices in bombardments or rubble remain effectively stranded, dependent on others for survival.
