Gaza’s child amputees need a hand after Israel’s aid cutoff, airstrikes

gaza city: Five-year-old Sila Abu Aqlan curled her lip in concentration as she practised walking for the first time on a prosthetic leg at a clinic in Gaza City. The foot of the new leg had a little pink sneaker with a lacy frill, matching her pink hoodie.

It has been nearly 15 months since the little girl’s leg was amputated after it was left severely burned from an Israeli airstrike. Finally, she is being fit for a prosthetic.

One of the most shocking sights in Gaza’s war has been the thousands of children with amputated limbs from Israel’s bombardment. The UN’s humanitarian aid organisation OCHA called it the “largest cohort of child amputees in modern history”.

Throughout the 17-month war, supplies and services for children and adults with amputations have fallen far short of demand. Gaza’s ceasefire

that began in mid-January offered a window for aid

agencies to bring in an increased number of prosthetic limbs, wheelchairs, crutches and other devices.

Still, it only covered about 20 per cent of the total need, said Loay Abu Saif, head of a disability programme run by the aid group Medical Aid for Palestine, or MAP.

The window slammed shut when Israel barred entry of all medical supplies as well as food, fuel and other aid on March 2. Israel’s resumpton of its military campaign last week, killing hundreds of Palestinians, has only added to the ranks of amputees.

With help limited, children wrestle with the psychological pain of losing a limb along with other traumas.

Sila’s mother, father and sisters were all killed in an airstrike on her home in December 2023. Sila suffered severe burns to her right leg. A month of treatment had

little effect, and Sila would scream in excruciating pain, her aunt Yasmine al-Ghofary said. Doctors amputated her leg above the knee.

“I try as much as I can to make her happy. But the truth is, there’s only so much she can be happy. Pain is pain, and amputation is amputation,” al-Ghofary said.

Sila sees other girls playing and tries to keep up with them using her walker but falls down. “She says, ‘Why am I like this? Why am I not like them?” said al-Ghofary.

In October 2023, 11-year-old Reem lost her hand when an airstrike hit nearby as her family fled their home in Gaza City.

Reem can no longer dress on her own, brush her hair or tie her shoes. She gets angry and hits her siblings if she can’t find someone to help her, her mother said. Other times, she isolates herself and just watches other children playing. “Once Reem told her dad that she wished to die,” said her mother, who also goes by

Umm Reem.