Gaza amputees are struggling to rebuild lives as the enclave faces a shortage of artificial limbs

Nusseirat, Gaza Strip (AP) — Sitting in her wheelchair, Hanin al-Maboh dreams of rebuilding her family, raising a new baby. She dreams of walking again. But her leg is gone, her life in Gaza is on hold, she says, as she waits to go abroad for more treatment.

In July 2024, Israeli airstrikes destroyed his home in central Gaza while he and his family slept. All four of her daughters, including her 5-month-old daughter, were killed. Her husband was badly burned. Al-Maboh’s leg was crushed under the debris and doctors had to amputate his right leg above the knee.

Speaking at her parents’ house, she said, “For the past one and a half years, I have been unable to move around and live like others.

A 2-month-old ceasefire in Gaza has delayed aid for thousands of Palestinians who have suffered amputations from Israeli bombardment over the past two years. The World Health Organization estimates that there are about 5,000 to 6,000 amputees from the war, 25% of whom are children.

Those who have lost limbs are struggling to adapt, facing a shortage of artificial limbs and long delays in medical evacuation outside Gaza.

The WHO said it had recently shipped essential artificial supplies to Gaza. This appears to be the first significant shipment for the past two years.

According to Loye Abu Saif, head of the disability program at Medical Assistance for Palestinians, or MAP, and Nevin Al Gussain, acting director of Gaza City’s Prosthetics and Polio Center, Israel had not previously allowed the production of any prefabricated prostheses or limbs since the war began.

The Israeli military agency in charge of aid coordination, known as COGAT, did not respond when asked how many artificial supplies had entered the war or its policies on such supplies.

‘My future is uncertain’

Al-Maboh was sleeping with her daughter in her arms when the attack hit their home in Nussarat, she said. Al-Maboh did not know her children had been killed for several weeks while recovering in the hospital.

She underwent several surgeries. He still has difficulty moving his hands. The rest of his leg is shattered, held together with rods. He needs bone grafts and other treatments that are only available outside Gaza.

He was put on a list for medical evacuation 10 months ago but has not yet been allowed to leave Gaza.

Waiting for an opportunity to leave, she stays at her parents’ house. She needs help getting dressed and can’t even hold a pen, and is overwhelmed by grief for her daughters. “I never got to hear him say ‘mommy,’ see his first tooth or watch him take his first steps,” she said of her child.

She dreams of giving birth to a new child, but she cannot until she is treated.

“It’s my right to live, to have another baby, to get back what I lost, to walk, to walk again,” she said. “Now my future is paralyzed. They destroyed my dreams.”

Medical evacuation remains slow

The cease-fire has brought no increase in medical evacuations for the 16,500 Palestinians the United Nations says are awaiting urgent treatment abroad — not just amputees, but patients suffering from a wide variety of chronic conditions or wounds.

From the start of the ceasefire in October to December 1, 235 patients have been evacuated, less than five a day. In the months before that, the average was about three a day.

Israel said last week it was ready to allow sick and other Palestinians to leave Gaza through the Israeli-controlled Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt. But this is uncertain because Egypt, which controls the other side of the crossing, also demands that Rafah be opened for Palestinians to enter Gaza under the ceasefire agreement.

Dr. WHO representative of the occupied Palestinian territory. Richard Pieperkorn told The Associated Press that the backlog was due to a lack of countries to host evacuated patients. He said new medevac routes needed to be opened, especially in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, where hospitals are ready to receive patients.

For those who wait, life becomes chaotic

Yassin Maruf sits in a tent in central Gaza, his left leg amputated, his right leg barely held together by a rod.

The 23-year-old and her brother were killed by Israeli fire in May when they returned home from a visit to northern Gaza that their family had been forced to flee. His brother was killed. Maruf was bleeding on the ground when a stray dog ​​attacked his left leg.

Doctors say his right leg will also need to be amputated, unless he can travel abroad for surgery that could save it. Maruf said he cannot afford painkillers and cannot visit the hospital regularly to change his bandages.

“If I want to go to the bathroom, I need two or three people to carry me,” he said.

Mohammed al-Nagar was studying for an IT degree at the University of Palestine before the war.

Seven months ago, his left leg was pierced when the house where his family sheltered was attacked. Doctors amputated his leg above the knee. His right leg is also badly injured and there are bruises in different parts of his body.

Despite four surgeries and physical therapy, Al-Nagar, 21, can barely walk.

“I want to travel abroad and wear a prosthetic and graduate from college and be normal like the young people outside of Gaza,” he said.

There is a shortage of artificial organs in Gaza

About 42,000 Palestinians have suffered life-changing injuries in the war, including amputations, brain trauma, spinal cord injuries and severe burns, the WHO said in an October report.

The situation for those in need of assistance has “improved slightly” but there is a “great lack of assistive products” such as wheelchairs, walkers and crutches. There are only eight prosthetists in Gaza who can make and fit prostheses, the WHO told the AP in a statement.

The Artificial Limbs and Polio Center in Gaza City, one of two prosthetics centers still operating in the region, received a shipment of materials to produce the limbs just before the war began in 2023, said its director, Al Gussen. Another small shipment arrived in December 2024, but nothing after that.

The center has been able to provide prostheses for 250 cases during the war, but supplies are running out, Al Ghusen said.

According to MAP’s Abu Saif, pre-made prosthetic legs or arms have not entered, adding that Israel does not ban them, but that the process causes delays and “in the end they ignore it.”

Ibrahim Khalif needs a prosthetic right leg so that he can find manual labor or cleaning jobs to support his pregnant wife and children.

In January, an Israeli airstrike caused him to lose his leg as he went out to eat in Gaza City.

“I was the provider for my children, but now I’m staying here,” Khalif said. “I wonder what I was and what I’ve become.”