ICSPR: On the International Day of Persons with Disabilities… Gaza Records One of the Highest Disability Rates in the World as a Result of Ongoing Genocide

3 December 2025

Press Release

ICSPR: On the International Day of Persons with Disabilities… Gaza Records One of the Highest Disability Rates in the World as a Result of Ongoing Genocide

On the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities—adopted by the United Nations in 1992 to promote their rights and ensure their full participation in public life—the International Commission to Support Palestinian Rights (ICSPR) states that this year’s commemoration comes amid catastrophic humanitarian conditions in Palestine. The Israeli genocide in the Gaza Strip continues for the third consecutive year, accompanied by a suffocating blockade that restricts access to food, medicine, and assistive devices, undermining the most basic human rights of persons with disabilities.

ICSPR reports that the genocidal war has produced one of the worst realities in modern history. The number of persons with disabilities in Gaza has risen from approximately 68,000 before the war to more than 120,000 as a result of amputation, burns, spinal and brain injuries, and other serious physical trauma—raising disability levels to about 60%. Health authorities have recorded more than 44,000 new disability cases, including 12,000 children who lost limbs or sustained permanent impairments. Meanwhile, persons with disabilities and more than 170,000 injured individuals face hunger, illness, lack of treatment, and isolation amid the near-total collapse of essential services.

ICSPR further notes that Israel has destroyed approximately 84% of health facilities and specialized disability-care centers, including rehabilitation and physiotherapy facilities and assistive-device providers. Programs for the education and rehabilitation of children with disabilities have stopped entirely, and access to prosthetic limbs, wheelchairs, compression devices, and physical-therapy materials has collapsed. Limited medical evacuation, combined with closed crossings and movement restrictions, has further worsened the health conditions of thousands of injured and ill individuals still waiting for life-saving treatment and rehabilitation.

ICSPR stresses that disability in Gaza has shifted from a rehabilitative condition to an existential threat. Thousands of children live without treatment, women with injuries lack proper care, and older persons and patients struggle to move inside overcrowded shelters lacking basic health needs. Many remain at risk of severe complications due to the absence of rehabilitation and medical support.

ICSPR affirms that the suffering of persons with disabilities and the injured in Gaza constitutes a direct assault on human dignity, a clear violation of international humanitarian law and the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, and a grave humanitarian crime that requires urgent international action to protect lives and guarantee basic rights including health, education, food, shelter, assistance, protection, and dignified living. Accordingly, ICSPR calls for the following:

1. The international community and the United Nations must act immediately to establish and maintain a ceasefire and end the ongoing aggression, while strengthening humanitarian response and providing protection and support to civilians especially persons with disabilities and the injured.

2. Urgent pressure must be applied to allow the entry of assistive devices, prosthetics, medical supplies, food, and humanitarian aid without delay, and to support programs for physical and psychological rehabilitation and assistive-technology services for persons with disabilities.

3. Israel must be held accountable before international legal bodies for crimes committed against persons with disabilities, and treaty-based mechanisms particularly the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities must be activated to monitor and address grave violations.

4. The Palestinian Authority must strengthen its response to the needs of persons with disabilities in Gaza, ensure full implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities without discrimination, integrate disability-related needs into national policies, and follow up on Israeli violations before international bodies.

5. Humanitarian organizations and international agencies must prioritize persons with disabilities within emergency relief and recovery plans, establish dedicated rehabilitation centers, and ensure accessible, safe, and equitable access to shelter, food, medicine, essential services, and medical evacuation for treatment and rehabilitation.

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