Israel's war leaves 21,000 Palestinian children disabled in Gaza: UN
Iran Press TV
Wednesday, 03 September 2025 5:24 PM
UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) says at least 21,000 children in Gaza have been left disabled since Israel launched its genocidal war on the besieged strip in October 2023.
In a review released Wednesday, the CRPD reported that there are "at least 21,000 children with disabilities in Gaza as a result of impairments acquired since October 7, 2023."
It further said that around 40,500 children had suffered "new war-related injuries" in the nearly two years since the war erupted, with more than half of them left disabled.
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), last month said that more than 40,000 children had either been killed or injured following Israel's genocidal war and an all-out blockade of Gaza.
In recent months, Lazzarini has repeatedly warned that the Gaza Strip has become a "graveyard" for children.
CRPD said that Israel must protect children with disabilities from attacks and implement evacuation protocols that take into account persons with disabilities.
The UN committee further said that Israeli evacuation orders during the military'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," the UN body said.
CRPD review stated that "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 committee said it had been informed of at least 157,114 people sustaining injuries, with over 25 percent at risk of life-long impairments, between October 7, 2023, and August 21 this year.
Israel should ensure disabled people are "allowed to return safely to their homes and are assisted in doing so," it added.
The committee said the restrictions on humanitarian aid being brought into the besieged Palestinian territory 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," CRPD stated.
While the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has four distribution points across the territory, the UN system it has largely replaced had about 400.
Rights groups and humanitarian organizations have condemned the so-called aid distribution system in the besieged Gaza Strip, warning that the aid sites serve only as 'death traps' enforcing deliberate starvation and humiliation against Palestinians.
GHF has led to the deaths of more than 2,000 people since May.
Physical obstacles, such as war debris and the loss of mobility aids under the rubble, have further prevented people from reaching the relocated aid points, the UN committee noted.
CRPD called for the delivery of "massive humanitarian aid to persons with disabilities" affected by the war.
Meanwhile, the Palestinian health ministry confirmed six deaths due to hunger in a matter of 24 hours, bringing the total number of malnutrition-related fatalities to 367.
Israel presses ahead with its genocidal war on Gaza, killing and injuring more Palestinians, including aid seekers.
The death toll from the US-Israeli genocide since October 2023 has surpassed 63,700, with more than 161,200 others injured.
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