At least 21,000 children disabled in Gaza war: UN committee

At least 21,000 children in Gaza have been disabled since October 7, 2023, a United Nations committee said on Wednesday.

Around 40,500 children have suffered "new war-related injuries" in the nearly two years since the war erupted, with more than half of them left disabled, said the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

Reviewing the situation in the Palestinian territories, it said Israeli evacuation orders during the army's offensive in Gaza were "often inaccessible" to people with hearing or visual impairments, "rendering evacuation impossible."

At a news conference, committee member Muhannad Al-Azzeh cited the example of a deaf mother in Rafah killed alongside her children, unaware of instructions to evacuate.

Fleeing in 'unsafe and undignified conditions'

"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 committee said.

Restrictions on humanitarian aid being brought into Gaza were disproportionately impacting the disabled, the committee said.

"People with disabilities faced severe disruptions in assistance, leaving many without food, clean water, or sanitation and dependent on others for survival," it said.

The decision to centralise aid distribution in Gaza has also made it far more difficult for the disabled to access desperately needed assistance, the committee warned.

Physical obstacles