Hospitals fail under war pressure: Wounded Gazans face neglect
Shafaq News – Gaza
For months, Eyad Rajab Al-Tawashi, a Gaza resident, has remained crippled by a bullet wound and abandoned by a collapsing health system.
Al-Tawashi was shot last August in the ankle while heading toward the Zikim crossing to find food for his family amid severe shortages. He was rushed to Al-Shifa Hospital, where he stayed for nearly 50 days before being transferred to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. “No facility has been able to treat my case or even provide a joint replacement,” he told Shafaq News.
His recovery, he said, depends on treatment abroad—a chance
that remains out of reach due to travel restrictions and lack of support. “I
just want to walk again,” he said. As the sole provider for a family of five,
he now relies entirely on humanitarian aid.
Al-Tawashi also criticized the lack of mobility support. “The WHO provides wheelchairs, but only for amputees or those with full paralysis. I can’t even reach the bathroom, yet I’m not eligible,” he added.
A Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor assessment in May 2025 found that about 30 Palestinians become permanently or temporarily disabled every day, bringing the total to more than 21,000 people since the start of the war, including 4,800 amputees and 1,200 cases of paralysis.
The report warned that the destruction of hospitals, the depletion of medical supplies, and the exodus of medical staff have left thousands of wounded without access to surgery, rehabilitation, or prosthetic devices.
