Israeli restrictions block Gaza child amputees from treatment abroad, rights group says

• Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor says Israeli travel restrictions are preventing hundreds of children with amputations from accessing specialist care abroad

• The organisation reports that 1,134 children have undergone limb amputations following Israeli attacks

• Shortages of prosthetic limbs, equipment and trained professionals are undermining rehabilitation across Gaza

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor warns that barriers to evacuation and shortages of prosthetic care could leave children facing lifelong complications.

Israeli restrictions on medical evacuations are preventing hundreds of children who have lost limbs in Gaza from obtaining specialist treatment abroad, according to Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor.

The Geneva-based organisation said on Wednesday that 1,134 children had undergone limb amputations following Israeli attacks, while access to the continuing care needed for their recovery remained severely limited.

Children requiring surgery, prosthetic limbs and rehabilitation face restrictions on leaving Gaza alongside shortages of equipment and trained professionals within the territory, the organisation said.

World Health Organization figures cited in the report showed that 2,300 amputees, including adults and children, were assessed for treatment between September 2024 and May 2026. Only 500 — fewer than one in four — received permanent prosthetic limbs.

Euro-Med said Gaza had just eight certified prosthetics and orthotics professionals. Facilities also lacked sufficient equipment to manufacture, fit, repair and adjust artificial limbs.

For children, these shortages carry particular consequences because prostheses need regular adjustment as they grow. Without follow-up care, they risk developing complications, persistent pain and greater difficulty moving, the organisation warned.

It said restrictions on treatment, rehabilitation and suitable education could deepen the long-term harm experienced by children already living with severe injuries.

The report described the case of an 11-year-old boy whose mother, Fidaa Ahmad Al-Shaer, said he was paralysed and lost a hand when an Israeli artillery shell landed nearby.

Al-Shaer, 36, told the organisation that her son needed several operations abroad and a prosthetic limb, but closed crossings had prevented him from travelling for treatment.

The barriers extend beyond evacuating patients, Euro-Med said. Israeli restrictions were also preventing the entry of equipment needed to produce prosthetic limbs locally. Specialist teams require permits to enter Gaza, limiting their ability to treat patients and train Palestinian medical staff.

The organisation accused Israel of war crimes and argued that the injuries inflicted on children, together with the obstruction of treatment and rehabilitation, formed part of a broader pattern of conduct it linked to the Genocide Convention.

It cited provisions concerning the deliberate imposition of conditions intended to bring about a protected group’s physical destruction, in whole or in part. These are accusations made by the organisation; the material provided did not include an Israeli response.

With agency inputs