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Number of amputees set to rise in Gaza as Israel blocks aid, NGO warns
The number of amputees in Gaza, already at a record high, could rise as Israel continues to restrict medical aid into the devastated strip, a humanitarian group has warned.
Humanity & Inclusion UK, which works with people living with disabilities, said this week that the scale of amputations carried out in Gaza reached “unprecedented” levels during the genocide.
“Without immediate improvements in access to materials, technical expertise, and patient mobility, the number of amputees, and the severity of their conditions, will continue to rise,” the group warned.
“At the height of the conflict, reports indicated that up to 10 children per day were undergoing one or both leg amputations. Even the most conservative figures point to an exceptionally high number of amputations relative to Gaza’s population, likely placing it among the highest rates of conflict-related amputations per capita globally.”
The World Health Organization estimates that between 5,000 and 6,000 people in Gaza have undergone amputations as of early October 2025, when Israel and Hamas signed a ceasefire agreement. They are among the 42,000 Palestinians in Gaza who have sustained life-changing injuries during the two-year conflict.
Six months after the ceasefire, conditions remain dire due to Israel’s blocking of humanitarian aid from entering the enclave. “The entry of aid remains highly unpredictable, with all materials subject to approval by Israeli authorities,” Humanity & Inclusion UK said. The organisation has itself been prevented from bringing humanitarian supplies and prosthetics to Gaza since February 2025.
Gaza’s second front: The battle against disease-carrying rats
Hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza are living in tents, forced out of their homes by Israeli attacks and forced evacuation orders. With no sign of reconstruction on the horizon, despite the beginning of a ceasefire in October, they are having to manage with the living situation as it is.
That can mean trying to source clean water, figuring out how to get power and internet, finding food, and dealing with disease-carrying pests like rats – a problem that is only getting worse as the summer approaches.
Samah, displaced from Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, has tried to buy rat poison, but says the prices are too high, and they already barely have enough money to feed their family.
Israeli strike kills five in Gaza, including three children
An Israeli air strike has targeted a group of civilians in northern Gaza, killing at least five Palestinians, according to Gaza’s civil defence agency.
“Five Palestinians, including three children, were killed in an Israeli air strike that targeted a group of civilians near Al-Qassam mosque in Beit Lahia,” local health officials said in a statement late on Wednesday.
“Their bodies were taken to Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City,” it added, without specifying the age of the children. The hospital confirmed receiving the bodies.
