An estimated 132,000 children below the age of five are projected to be at risk of death from acute malnutrition by June.
At least 21,000 children have been disabled in Gaza since Israel’s genocidal war on the besieged enclave broke out nearly two years ago, a United Nations committee has said.
The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) reported on Wednesday that about 40,500 children have suffered “new war-related injuries” during the war, leaving more than half of them disabled.
Child malnutrition is also soaring in Gaza, where a full-blown famine has been declared.
An estimated 132,000 children below the age of five are projected to be at risk of death from acute malnutrition by June 2026, according to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system.
Reviewing the situation in the Palestinian territories, it said Israeli forced displacement orders during the army’s offensive in Gaza were “often inaccessible” to people with hearing or visual impairments, “rendering evacuation 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 said.
Meanwhile, the CRPD said the restrictions, a result of Israel’s punishing blockade, on humanitarian aid being brought into the Gaza Strip were disproportionately impacting the disabled.
“People with disabilities faced severe disruptions in assistance, leaving many without food, clean water, or sanitation and dependent on others for survival,” it said.
While the private United States- and Israel-backed GHF has four distribution points across the territory, the UN system it has largely replaced had about 400. Regular mass shootings by Israeli forces at aid points mean that many disabled people cannot access aid, and are risking being shot while doing so.
The loss of mobility aids under the rubble has further prevented people from reaching the relocated aid points.
The CRPD said 83 percent of disabled people had lost their assistive devices, with most unable to afford alternatives such as donkey carts.
It voiced concern that devices like wheelchairs, walkers, canes, splints and prosthetics were considered “dual-use items” by the Israeli authorities and were therefore not included in aid shipments.
The CRPD called for the delivery of “massive humanitarian aid to persons with disabilities” affected by the war, while insisting that all sides needed to adopt protection measures for the disabled to prevent “further violence, harm, deaths and deprivation of rights”.
The committee said it had been informed of at least 157,114 people sustaining injuries, with more than 25 percent at risk of lifelong impairments, between October 7, 2023 and August 21 this year.
It said Israel should adopt specific measures for protecting children with disabilities from attacks, and implement evacuation protocols that take into account people with disabilities.
Israel should ensure disabled people are “allowed to return safely to their homes and are assisted in doing so”, it added.
