By
Inside a Gaza hospital ward, Sajida al-Baba watches her son Rajab relearn how to exist in a body reshaped by war. His fear began with the sound of bombing, but his life changed forever when an Israeli strike hit a school shelter in December 2024.
The attack killed relatives and buried him beneath rubble. Doctors amputated his right leg, treated a skull fracture and removed shrapnel from the other limb. After three days in a coma, he woke into a different struggle — one that did not end with survival.
He cried from pain after repeated surgeries and now refuses to let others see his injury, asking his mother to cover his leg. Months later, malnutrition caused a fracture while he tried to walk on crutches. “He watches other children play,” his mother explains, “then turns away silently.”
Rajab is one among thousands. Gaza’s Health Ministry says nearly 6,000 amputations have been recorded since the war began, about 25% involving children. Most require long-term rehabilitation, which is unavailable under siege conditions.
Beyond Physical Injury
On a damaged road in northern Gaza, 33-year-old Hamza Salem pushes a worn manual wheelchair across rubble. Before the war he worked at a fuel station in Jabaliya refugee camp. First, a strike amputated his seven-year-old daughter’s hand. Months later, another attack during displacement to Rafah amputated both his legs.
Leaving the hospital did not end the ordeal. With limited medicine and proper nutrition blocked from entering Gaza, his body weakened. The wheelchair he received is unsuitable for the destroyed streets, and each trip to physiotherapy requires others to carry him across debris.
“I cannot move alone,” he explains, describing a life measured in obstacles rather than distance.
Health officials warn the crisis extends beyond physical injury. Families face long-term psychological, social, and economic pressure while specialized care and prosthetics remain scarce. Authorities have urged international organizations to intervene urgently to provide rehabilitation services and support.
60 Day Ultimatum
As Gaza struggles to cope with the human consequences of the war, Israeli officials warned the genocidal military campaign could resume.
Israel announced a 60-day ultimatum demanding that Hamas surrender all weapons, saying failure to comply would lead to renewed fighting. The timeline may begin around the upcoming political meetings linked to the proposed international framework for Gaza’s future governance.
Palestinian factions reject the demand, saying their arms are tied to resisting occupation rather than internal governance arrangements.
The warning comes despite an existing ceasefire that ended the two-year assault, which killed more than 72,000 Palestinians and injured over 171,000, according to Gaza authorities. Since the truce began, hundreds more Palestinians have been killed in continued violations.
For Gaza’s amputees, the threat carries a clear meaning: recovery may again be interrupted by another major war, and survival itself remains uncertain in a place where even healing has become part of the battlefield.
