Nearly 42,000 people in Gaza have suffered injuries so severe they will affect the rest of their lives, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Thursday, with children among the hardest hit.
These injuries include amputations, head trauma, spinal cord damage, and severe burns, leaving survivors in urgent need of long-term care.
A recent WHO analysis shows that a quarter of those injured over the two-year conflict in Gaza will require life-long rehabilitation.
“Life-long rehabilitation will be required,” Richard Peeperkorn, the WHO’s representative in the Palestinian territories, told reporters.
Since the war began with Hamas's attack inside Israel on October 7, 2023, Israel's counteroffensive has killed more than 66,000 Palestinians, according to figures from Gaza’s health ministry, considered reliable by the UN.
The same source reports that nearly 170,000 people have been injured during the fighting.
Drawing on data from 22 WHO-supported Emergency Medical Teams, the Gaza health ministry, and other partners, the report estimates that 41,844 people have sustained life-changing injuries. More than 5,000 have had amputations, though the report notes that the number could be undercounted, as it excludes traumatic amputations occurring at the moment of injury outside medical facilities.
“Children appear to be disproportionately vulnerable to amputations,” Pete Skelton, the report’s lead author, said. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus added, “The most common injuries requiring rehabilitation are blast injuries to legs and arms.” He also cited spinal cord injuries, traumatic brain injuries, major burns, and severe facial and eye injuries as common, often causing permanent impairment and disfigurement.
The WHO emphasized the urgent need for rehabilitation services, but warned that these are increasingly out of reach.
“Just when they are needed most, attacks, insecurity and displacement have put them out of reach,” Tedros said. “The explosions that cause these injuries also destroy the health facilities and services needed to deal with them.”
Tedros further warned that Gaza’s health system is on the brink of collapse as injuries and medical needs rise amid famine conditions. Only 14 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals remain partially functional.
Before the war, Gaza had around 1,300 physiotherapists and 400 occupational therapists, but many have been displaced and dozens killed. Despite the growing number of amputations, the territory currently has only eight prosthetists capable of making and fitting artificial limbs.