Children with Disabilities Struggle to Survive in Gaza
The Israeli military’s nearly year-long siege and bombardment of Gaza in response to the October 7, 2023 Hamas-led attacks in Israel have been catastrophic for children, especially those with disabilities.
“I was a burden on them [my family], an extra load alongside their belongings,” said Ghazal, a 15-year-old girl with cerebral palsy who lost her wheelchair and a boot that helps her walk in an attack on her home in Gaza City. “I couldn't find any means of transportation. I gave up and sat on the ground in the middle of the road, crying. I told them to go on without me.”
A new Human Rights Watch?report documents how children with disabilities in Gaza face a particularly dangerous situation and additional difficulties as they struggle to comply with frequent evacuation orders and a lack of effective advance warning of attacks.
Before the hostilities began last October, nearly 100,000 children in Gaza had a disability. Since then, thousands more have been injured and acquired a permanent disability, many from?explosive weapons used in civilian areas.
The ongoing siege of Gaza, unlawful?obstruction of humanitarian aid, the use of?starvation?as a weapon of war, as well as damage and destruction of?hospitals?are causing disproportionate harm to children with disabilities, who struggle to access?desperately needed medical treatment and supplies, assistive devices, food, and water.
They are also at particular risk of lasting psychological harm. An estimated 20,000 children in Gaza have lost one or both parents and 17,000 are unaccompanied or separated from their parents.?
Some children with disabilities that we spoke with also described the difficulties they faced in fleeing, especially in the absence of advance warnings or assistive devices and given the heavy destruction they had to navigate.?
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The children and their families HRW researchers?spoke to for this report said they want to go back to school. They want medicine, access to clean water, and proper food. They want normalcy. And they want safety.
They deserve to have their rights protected and they deserve dignity.
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1 个月How could all those countries sit around a meeting table and decide do do this and know that they wouldn't be stopped????
Social Activist | Founder of Bodhikaya Foundation | Educator | Shaping Policy | Empowering Communities & Inspiring Growth with Corporate Training | Advancing Holistic Development with Strategic Vision & Sustainable Plans
1 个月The loss of innocent lives, especially civilians and children, in Gaza is deeply heartbreaking. While it is essential to stand firm against terrorism in any form, we must also uphold our humanity. There must be other ways to address conflicts without causing harm to those who have no part in the violence. The suffering of innocent people—families, children—should never be acceptable collateral. We must seek a path where justice is served without the destruction of lives that are already vulnerable. No conflict should justify the loss of innocent lives.
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1 个月Human Rights Watch, #Actions #Urgently Needed! israel announced intention to Bomb #Ambulances in Lebanon. Paramedics MUST be allowed to rescue people! #israeli #Terrorists carpet bombed residential buildings in Beirut 2 days ago & still bombing the Paramedics who are trying to rescue the wounded. This is #Barbaric!. In the past 3 days, israeli terrorists killed more than 50 #Paramedics in #Lebanon. 7 Paramedics killed &14 injured in an #israeli #barbaric #Phosphorus #attack on a medical center, others by israeli drone strikes on Ambulances or medical centers. 4 Hospitals were forced to close down. #Paramedics noticing a pattern with the strikes: "whenever they arrived at a location to start rescue operations, israeli airstrikes would follow" #Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a plastic #surgeon who worked in #Gaza & now in #Lebanon:" the treatment of medical workers over the last 2 weeks in Lebanon was reminiscent of Israeli tactics in Gaza." #Phosphorus use is unlawful, it burns at extremely high temperatures when exposed to air & can continue to burn inside flesh, causing horrific pain & life changing injuries. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/03/lebanese-healthcare-workers-fearful-as-growing-numbers-killed-in-strikes
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1 个月Very heart touching story!
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1 个月Innocent children, women,, and men are suffering between these political tensions that do not value the importance of human life.