The summer 2014 offensive on the Gaza Strip produced approximately one hundred new amputees among its residents. The end This 2016 report addresses the summer 2014 offensive on the Gaza Strip, which produced approximately one hundred new amputees among its residents. As a part a Physicians for Human Rights – Israel (PHRI) fact-finding mission, data was collected through interviews with patients who underwent amputations. The report details the complications and difficulties amputees face regarding the amputations themselves, fitting prostheses, and rehabilitation.
The amputations were often performed under extreme circumstances due to the realities of war and shortage of resources. Many individuals underwent improper limb amputation, which prevents the fitting of an artificial limb without corrective surgery. These corrective surgeries are not available in the Gaza Strip on a permanent basis and are often performed by medical teams from international organizations. Furthermore, the prostheses available in the Gaza Strip are not up to the same standards as those fitted in Israel in terms of quality, weight, and functionality, thereby failing to meet the principal need of the mostly-young amputees to return to a routine in life. The report also identifies four issues in the rehabilitation apparatus: (1) insufficient services within the Gaza Strip; (2) prevention of passage for treatment in the West Bank; (3) no coordination or centralized body for amputee rehabilitation; and (4) provision of care through short-term NGO “projects” that often lack the necessary funding. The report observes that, to a certain extent, the story of the amputees—and of those injured in general—is the story of Gaza’s healthcare system and the obstacles it faces.
Finally, the report aims to identify the players responsible for the above-mentioned situation, and concludes by providing a short list of demands. The report is part of a comprehensive PHRI project that includes an online blog (link) in which eight amputees from the Gaza Strip write about how they deal with the amputation and life in its aftermath.