Gaza’s vulnerable suffer war’s toll: Malnourished, maimed and displaced

Gaza’s children and aged are bearing the brunt of the devastation inflicted by Israel’s warfare connected the enclave, arsenic the United Nations warns of a crisp emergence successful amputations, semipermanent disabilities and terrible hunger.

More than 40,000 children person been injured since the struggle began, and astir 90 percent of Gaza’s colonisation has been displaced, often aggregate times.

Amid worsening conditions, assistance workers are besides reporting a crisp emergence successful malnutrition among children, and increasing hardship for aged people, who are adjacent little capable to entree food, attraction and indispensable aesculapian enactment than the wide population.

One successful 10 Gaza children tested successful UNRWA clinics malnourished

On Tuesday, UNRWA main Philippe Lazzarini said: “One successful 10 children screened successful UNRWA aesculapian facilities is malnourished.” He warned that kid malnutrition is rising rapidly successful Gaza amid terrible shortages of nutrient and aesculapian supplies.

“Salam, a seven-month-old baby, died of malnutrition past week,” helium added, addressing the increasing urgency of the crisis.

He added that much than 870 Palestinians person been killed portion trying to entree nutrient from assistance organisation points acceptable up by the highly criticised GHF, a backstage contractor backed by Israel and the United States.

(Al Jazeera)

Before the warfare began connected October 7, 2023, astir 500 trucks of humanitarian assistance entered Gaza each azygous day.

That fig collapsed pursuing Israel’s battle connected the besieged enclave, dropping to less than 80 trucks per day.

In March, Israel imposed a astir three-month blockade, halting assistance deliveries altogether.

On May 27, the GHF assumed power of assistance operations, replacing 400 section organisation points with conscionable 4 “mega-sites”.

These locations person go scenes of deadly violence, arsenic Israeli forces person reportedly opened occurrence connected Palestinians gathering for food, galore of whom indispensable locomotion respective kilometres to scope the sites.

The much than 870 radical who person been killed trying to cod assistance from GHF points see astatine slightest 94 children and 11 aged people. Despite mounting criticism, GHF remains the sole supplier of nutrient successful the Gaza Strip.

Since January 2024, UNRWA has screened much than 240,000 boys and girls nether the property of 5 successful its clinics, adding that earlier the war, acute malnutrition was uncommon successful Gaza.

Zainab Abu Haleeb, a five-month-old Palestinian miss diagnosed with malnutrition, according to medics, lies connected a furniture arsenic she receives attraction astatine Nasser Hospital successful Khan Younis, successful the confederate Gaza Strip, July 15, 2025 [Hussam Al-Masri/Reuters]

“As malnutrition among children spreads crossed the war-torn enclave, UNRWA has implicit 6,000 trucks of food, hygiene supplies, medicine, aesculapian supplies extracurricular of Gaza. They are each waiting to spell in,” UNRWA’s communications director, Juliette Touma, said successful a property connection connected Monday.

More than 139,000 radical injured, including astatine slightest 40,500 children

As of July 1, 2025, much than 139,000 Palestinians person been injured successful Gaza since the warfare began, and much than 40,500 of them are children, according to the Global Protection Clusters July report.

At slightest 58,479 radical person been confirmed killed since the commencement of the warfare successful October 2023, with an estimated 11,000 much buried nether rubble, their bodies unrecovered owed to restrictions connected rescue teams oregon due to the fact that it is simply intolerable to scope them.

Roughly 1 successful 4 of the injured are expected to necessitate semipermanent rehabilitation care.

Children are particularly vulnerable: 10 children suffer 1 oregon some limbs each day, and 15 children per time are near with perchance life-altering disabilities.

(Al Jazeera)

By the extremity of 2024, much than 5,200 children were known to necessitate important rehabilitation, and astatine slightest 7,000 were surviving with imperishable disabilities. The existent fig is believed to beryllium acold higher owed to the illness of Gaza’s wellness system.

Children with disabilities are among those astir astatine hazard successful Gaza’s kid extortion caseload.

Of the 5,160 cases registered, 849 (16.5 percent) impact children with physical, sensory, intelligence oregon psychosocial disabilities.

Nearly fractional of these cases (49 percent) are children aged 7 to 12, with a flimsy bulk being boys (53 percent). These children look accrued risks of violence, neglect, exclusion from indispensable services and heavy societal isolation successful the existent crisis.

Conditions similar nonaccomplishment of proceeding and imaginativeness are besides connected the rise. Based connected screenings conducted betwixt 2023 and this twelvemonth by the Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children, UNRWA said astir 35,000 radical are astatine hazard of impermanent oregon imperishable proceeding nonaccomplishment owed to changeless bombardment and explosions.

The warfare has besides severely affected older adults successful Gaza. Of 111,500 radical aged 60 and above, 97 percent study wellness problems, 96 percent person chronic illnesses and 86 percent unrecorded with disabilities – conditions made worse by medicine shortages, deteriorating hygiene and the demolition of wellness facilities.

At slightest 3,839 older radical person been killed since the warfare began.

90 percent of the colonisation of Gaza displaced

Across Gaza, 90 percent of the full colonisation has been forcibly displaced – galore of them aggregate times; immoderate 10 times oregon more. Since mid-March 2025, much than 665,000 radical person been uprooted, often uncovering themselves with small oregon nary entree to food, water, shelter, healthcare oregon immoderate basal beingness necessities.

(Al Jazeera)

According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), much than 86 percent of Gaza’s territory is either wrong an Israeli-imposed no-go portion oregon nether progressive forced evacuation orders.

(Al Jazeera)

Older radical and those with disabilities look utmost hardship arsenic a effect of displacement. Many cannot fly astatine each owed to mobility challenges, unwellness oregon the nonaccomplishment of assistive devices – with much than 83 percent reporting that their wheelchairs, walkers, proceeding immunodeficiency oregon prosthetics person been mislaid oregon destroyed.

(Al Jazeera)

The terrain has go highly unsafe and inaccessible: Israeli forces person built soil mounds astatine checkpoints, making question astir intolerable for families with idiosyncratic who has a mobility impairment. At the aforesaid time, precocious levels of unexploded ordnance contaminate galore of Gaza’s roads and disproportionately endanger those with physical, sensory oregon cognitive disabilities.

These conditions summation the hazard of separation from caregivers, particularly for children with disabilities and the elderly, who whitethorn conflict to communicate, recognize evacuation orders oregon determination independently. Once separated from household oregon different caregivers, these radical look a importantly higher hazard of injury, death, maltreatment and exclusion from captious services, compounding the dangers of warfare with profound semipermanent harm.