Shattered Dreams: Gaza's Amputees Face Overwhelming Hardship Amid Rubble and Blockade

Before Israel’s war on Gaza, 24-year-old Shurouq Khaira was an athlete training regularly for track races. Athletics was a core part of her identity; she competed in youth championships, taking a national title in 2016, and dreamed of representing Palestine at the Olympics. That future was shattered on November 19, 2023, when a shell hit her family's home in the Daraj neighbourhood of Gaza City. Shurouq survived, but doctors had to amputate her right leg below the knee, while her father lost both of his legs in the same attack.

Today, Shurouq lives in a tent with her family due to the destruction of their home and the lack of reconstruction. Navigating the sandy, rubble-strewn streets is a constant struggle, forcing her to hop on one leg. She hopes to receive a prosthetic leg, but must wait while enduring painful physical therapy sessions that often require walking long distances on foot due to prohibitively expensive transportation.

The Gaza Ministry of Health reports around 6,000 amputations since the conflict began, driven by indiscriminate bombing and a decimated healthcare system. The United Nations notes that about a quarter of these cases are children, making the enclave the largest source of child amputees in modern history. Orthopaedic surgeons state that many amputations could have been avoided, but the collapse of hospitals and severe shortages of medical supplies, surgical tools, antiseptics, and anaesthetics—exacerbated by Israeli import restrictions—have forced doctors to amputate to save lives.

Restrictions also cover vital components for prosthetics, such as silicone, thermoplastics, medical plasters, and mechanical joints, which Israel classifies as dual-use. With a severe shortage of prosthetists and rehabilitation specialists, experts like Jamal Kallab attempt to assemble improvised devices from plastic pipes, wood, and aluminium retrieved from destroyed buildings. Kallab warns that these improvised devices lack proper support and lead to severe friction, swelling, and ulcers.

Delays in rehabilitation programs further compound the crisis, causing muscle atrophy, joint stiffness, and skin swelling, according to physical therapist Bissan Kloub. These challenges are acutely felt by young people whose self-image and mobility are severely restricted. Eighteen-year-old Shireen Abu al-Qumsan, who lost both legs in a May 2025 attack, relies on a manual wheelchair to navigate the destroyed streets of Bureij in central Gaza while she awaits treatment abroad and prosthetic limbs approved by Israel. Both Shireen and Shurouq face profound mental health struggles, battling trauma, insecurity, and the daily exhaustion of surviving in a devastated landscape.