As if Israel’s previously documented atrocities in Gaza were not enough, we have now learnt from the UN that at least 21,000 children have been left disabled since the current conflict began 23 months ago. That is over half of the 40,500 children who have suffered war-related injuries at the hands of Israel and its allies. These children are among the most vulnerable victims of a rogue state that has shown little regard for human dignity or international law.
The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) also reports that Israeli evacuation orders were often inaccessible to those with visual or hearing impairments, leaving them trapped in danger zones. There are horrifying documented reports of disabled people literally forced to crawl through sand and mud to save themselves because they could not access mobility aids, while another case cited is of a deaf woman and her children being killed because she could not hear evacuation orders.
This is happening because 83% of people with disabilities have lost their assistive devices, including wheelchairs, prosthetics and hearing aids. In many cases, this is because they lost their devices in previous bombings or emergency evacuations and cannot afford replacements. At the same time, Israel bars many assistive devices from being taken to Gaza by labeling them “dual-use items”. Oxfam reported last year that even items such as water testing kits are being banned under dual-use rules. Similarly, wheelchairs, crutches and hearing aids, which were only recently removed from the restricted list, are reportedly still being stopped.
Israel’s cruel decision to replace the 400 UN-backed aid distribution points with its own dubious and dangerous distribution points creates more problems for the disabled, as they must now travel farther and across difficult terrain for food aid. This is not merely a health crisis, but a fundamental failure of humanity, sponsored by the US, Germany, Italy, the UK, and every other country that has sold weapons to Israel or supported the genocidal regime in any way.
