GAZA (Dispatches) – An official in the Gaza Ministry of Health has announced that 4,500 amputations of the upper and lower limbs had been recorded since the start of the genocide committed by the Zionist regime for the 16th consecutive month.
Director of the Health Information Department Zaher al-Wahid confirmed, “We have recorded 4,500 amputations as of the end of 2024 as a result of the ongoing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.”
Al-Wahid explained that around 800 Palestinian children’s cases have been documented, representing 18 percent of the total number of recorded amputations.
The Palestinian health official stated that 540 women were also among these cases, representing 12 percent of the total number.
Al-Wahidi added, “These numbers reflect the extent of the humanitarian catastrophe that Palestinian civilians are suffering, especially the most vulnerable groups, which are children and women.”
Doctors and government officials expect the number of amputations, especially among children, to be several times the announced number, as it is difficult to present accurate statistics considering the ongoing genocide and the subsequent destruction of civilian facilities.
Al-Wahidi stated that the numbers are likely to rise as the genocide continues, putting further pressure on the healthcare system, which is already suffering a shortage of medical supplies due to the ongoing siege imposed on the Strip for over 18 years.
Since the start of the genocidal war on October 7, 2023, the Israeli army has targeted the healthcare sector in Gaza, bombed and besieged hospitals, threatened to evacuate them and prevented the entry of medical supplies, especially in the northern areas of the Strip, which it invaded again on October 5.
Al-Wahidi stressed that the health sector is in dire need of medical and humanitarian support to face the escalating crisis, calling on the international community to take urgent action to stop Israeli violations and ensure the protection of civilians.
With the increase in amputations among children, Director of the Financing and Partnerships Division of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) Lisa Doughten said in October 2024: “Gaza is home to the largest cohort of child amputees in modern history.”
At the time, Doughten quoted the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) reporting that ten children in Gaza lose one or both legs every day as a result of the genocide.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini described the tragic situation experienced by the children of Gaza as a “pandemic of disabilities” sweeping the strip amid a shortage of prosthetic limbs and psychological and physical rehabilitation centers that restore hope to amputees.
A number of prosthetic limbs are provided as part of relief aid provided by countries and medical delegations to the Gaza Strip.
Meanwhile, thousands of unexploded munitions fired by the Zionist regime’s army have remained scattered across Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, according to Israeli media.
Quoting unnamed senior officers late Friday, Israel’s Channel 12 reported that the Israeli army recently launched an investigation to determine whether Palestinians used unexploded munitions to manufacture an improvised explosive device (IED) that killed three Zionist troops in northern Gaza last week.
According to the report, the Israeli army has fired tens of thousands of munitions into Gaza, with the air force alone dropping approximately 30,000 bombs since the war began.
“Thousands of bombs dropped by Israeli aircraft in Gaza did not detonate, including some weighing a ton,” Channel 12 noted.