By
Rima Abu Atiye and Hasan Abu Atiye, a brother and sister who lost their legs in an Israeli attack on their home in Gaza and are forced to use the same wheelchair, dream of the day they will have their own prosthetics.
In the last days of 2023, the Israeli army bombed the home of 22-year-old Rima and her 20-year-old brother Hassan in the Tel Zater neighborhood of the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip as they were preparing to evacuate.
Israeli bombing killed 16 of their relatives and trapped them under the rubble.
The brother and sister also lost their legs.
In Gaza, wheelchairs are no longer available or affordable.
Due to the Israeli blockade, the collapsed healthcare system, and the blockade of aid, wheelchairs and prosthetics have become unattainable dreams for those who have lost limbs.
For the brother and sister living in a makeshift tent in the Yarmouk stadium in central Gaza, the wheelchair has become a silent symbol of the shared suffering of tens of thousands of people in Gaza who have lost limbs.
It is reported that the number of people who have lost limbs has increased rapidly in the ongoing Israeli attacks since October 7, 2023.
According to data from the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza, the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Gaza Municipality, approximately 5.000 amputees have been registered in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israeli attacks.
Hasan, who lost his legs in the Israeli attack, said: "We want to go abroad to get prosthetics. This is our most basic right as human beings."
Hasan's sister, Rima, said she was pulled from the rubble alive, but lost her legs.
She added that many of her relatives are still trapped under the rubble because Civil Defense teams cannot reach them due to the threat from the Israeli army.
Highlighting their poor health and the lack of hospitals, medicine and food, Rima expressed her desire to leave Gaza and seek treatment.
.png "Gaza Fund (1)")
