Palestinian children amputees struggle to live as Israel's war on Gaza continues for over a year

A year on, Israel's war on Gaza has forced the amputation of thousands of Palestinians.

Since 7 October 2023, the Israeli army has been waging a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip after a Hamas-led attack on Israeli military bases and civilian settlements within and around the Gaza envelope, killing approximately 1,100 people and capturing approximately 250 others.

For its part, the Israeli army killed more than 41,638 Palestinians and injured more than 96,460 others, according to the latest statistics issued by the Palestinian Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip. 

Out of the total number of Gaza's wounded, approximately 10,000 Palestinians, including 4,000 children, have had their limbs amputated, according to the health ministry. 

Meanwhile, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) recently noted that at least ten children lose a limb every day in Gaza as a result of the Israel's war since 7 October 2023.

'I can no longer play'

Mustafa Shahada, a twelve-year-old Palestinian boy from Gaza City, struggles every day for his daily needs, such as wearing clothing or preparing food for himself and his blind mother.

On 15 January 2024, the Israeli army bombed Shahada's house in the town of Al-Zawaida in the central Gaza Strip, killing five members of his family and resulted in the amputation of his right foot and the fingers of his right hand.

"At that time, we heard a huge explosion shaking our house and then everything around me went silent [...] I don't remember what happened. When I woke up, I found myself in the hospital without a foot or fingers," the boy recalled to The New Arab.

"The doctors told me that the Israeli army killed my father and my four siblings, and that they had wounded my mother on her hands and eyesight. She is now blind, and I am an amputee," he said.

Mustafa lives with his blind mother in a tent in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza. He can barely use his crutches.

Ibrahim al-Jarousha, a 10-year-old from Gaza City, is also struggling to manage as he lives inside a tent waiting to be taken out of the besieged coastal enclave to receive treatment and have artificial limbs fitted.

The Israeli army bombed al-Tuffah School in Gaza City two months ago, killing at least 25 Palestinians and wounding 50 others, most of them children and women. Ibrahim was among those wounded by the Israeli attack. His limbs were amputated at the Mamdani Hospital.

"My son's leg was amputated two weeks after he was injured due to the severe infections and the lack of the necessary medical medications to treat him," Ahmed al-Jarousha, Ibrahim's father, remarked to TNA. 

Al-Jarousha said that Ibrahim needs many things, including artificial limbs, noting that his son's suffering increases day after day and his condition is terrible.

"Before the war, I used to play with my friends in the neighbourhood [...] I can no longer play because of my injury. I can’t play, I don't have friends, I don't have anything," Ibrahim cried out. 

Unimaginable suffering

Both Ibrahim and Mustafa hope to travel outside the Gaza Strip to be fitted with prosthetic limbs that will enable them to walk again.

But it's not easy. With thousands of wounded people lining up, and the lack of medical facilities and staff, there is a massive delay in providing necessary medical care or saving many cases, which often results in unnecessary amputations, according to Mustafa Al-Hams, a Palestinian surgeon at the European Hospital in Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip.

"If we had more staff and resources, we would have been able to save some of the limbs," he told TNA.

"The suffering of children in this conflict is unimaginable, and even more so," Jason Lee, director of Save the Children in the Palestinian territories, said in a press statement. "Killing and maiming children is condemned as a grave violation against children, and those responsible must be held accountable." 

"Children are about seven times more likely to die from blast injuries than adults. Their skulls are not fully formed yet, and their undeveloped muscles provide less protection. Hence, a blast is more likely to rupture organs in their abdomen, even when there is no obvious damage," he added.