Key facts
- 43,000 Palestinians in Gaza have sustained life-changing injuries, including limb trauma, amputations, and brain injuries.
- No rehabilitation equipment entered Gaza between May 2024 and April 2026, with assistive products facing long delays.
- 82% of structures in Gaza are damaged or destroyed, impacting recovery conditions.
- Less than a quarter of amputees have received permanent prosthetics due to severe shortages.
- Rehabilitation facilities in Gaza are not fully functional, facing constraints in staffing, equipment, and supplies.
Despite a declared ceasefire in October 2023, the pace of destruction in Gaza has continued, particularly for those sustaining severe injuries. The World Health Organization estimates that 43,000 individuals have suffered life-changing injuries, including limb trauma, amputations, and brain damage, representing approximately 2% of Gaza's pre-war population. However, access to rehabilitation supplies and equipment remains severely restricted, with aid agencies reporting no rehabilitation equipment entered Gaza between May 2024 and April 2026, and shipments of assistive products facing average waiting times of 136 days.
Palestinian bodies are increasingly being maimed while the infrastructure necessary for recovery is simultaneously destroyed. Even after the ceasefire, critical aid continues to be denied, and Palestinians are still killed while sleeping, shopping, or on the beach. Aid deliveries and medical supplies are frequently blocked or severely restricted. As of August, Kerem Shalom was the only operational crossing for cargo, but the volume of supplies was insufficient, with only two of 878 commercial truckloads between August 3-9 carrying medical equipment.
The violence has changed in form and pace, but the conditions leading to preventable Palestinian deaths persist. Tents sheltering displaced people and remaining buildings are still bombed daily, with over 1,300 Palestinians killed since the ceasefire announcement. Around 82% of structures, approximately 200,000 buildings, have been damaged or destroyed, leaving over 1.2 million Palestinians displaced and without homes.
For those with life-changing injuries, these conditions are devastating. Major limb injuries account for the largest share, with over 22,000 recorded, and more than 5,000 limb amputations. Yet, less than a quarter of evaluated amputees have received permanent prosthetics due to severe shortages. No rehabilitation facility in Gaza is fully functional, operating under significant constraints. Surviving an initial injury does not guarantee survival when the conditions for treatment and recovery are systematically dismantled or denied.
Israel's practice of maiming Palestinian bodies while attacking rehabilitation infrastructure is not new, dating back to the 2018 Great March of Return. However, since October 2023, this has escalated with mass casualties from explosives, attacks on medical facilities, and severe restrictions on medical supplies. The destruction of healthcare infrastructure deepens and prolongs the effects of bodily injury, extending the impact of injuries across households and communities. The situation is increasingly being normalized as 'postwar' Gaza, despite ongoing killing, injury, and deprivation, a pattern seen in previous Israeli assaults followed by ceasefires that failed to end the violence.