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STORY: GAZA / MEDICAL NEEDS CRISIS
TRT: 12.06
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ARABIC / NATS
DATELINE: 19 AUGUST 2025, KHAN YOUNIS CITY, GAZA CITY
1. Various shots, Ibrahim Abdel Nabi’s family as they light a fire to cook in a displacement camp in the Al-Mawasi area west of Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip
2. Various shots, Ibrahim Abdel Nabi holding his mobile phone and looking at photos of himself standing on both feet before one of them was amputated
3. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ibrahim Abdel Nabi, Amputee:
“On May 27, 2025, they said that the humanitarian organization had opened its doors to distribute aid through ID cards. My wife and I sat together and agreed that I should take my card and go. When I went to the Al-Alam area west of Rafah to collect aid, upon arrival, I was hit by an explosive bullet in my foot, and it was amputated immediately. I kept bleeding for about an hour and a half, and no one came to help me. Everyone was preoccupied with getting food for their children. Later, some young men rescued me and took me to the nearby Red Cross hospital. I stayed there for about a month and a half and underwent around 12 surgeries, most of them cleaning procedures due to malnutrition and heavy blood loss. Each time, infections would spread in my leg, and they would have to amputate another part until I reached this condition.”
4. Various shots, Ibrahim Abdel Nabi sitting in his tent with his wife and four children
5. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ibrahim Abdel Nabi, Amputee:
“When I left the hospital and sat in my tent, I saw everyone around me going to bring aid. Even my children sat with me and said: ‘Dad, why don’t you go and bring us aid?’ When my kids asked me for food, my psychological state grew worse, and I suffered deeply inside when they told me: ‘Dad, we don’t have any flour.’”
6. Various shots, Ibrahim Abdel Nabi sitting with his children while looking at a prosthetic limb he made himself to help him move
7. Various shots, prosthetic limb Ibrahim Abdel Nabi made himself to cope with his disability
8. Various shots, Ibrahim Abdel Nabi’s youngest child holding the prosthetic limb made by his father
9. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Ibrahim Abdel Nabi, Amputee:
“My wife and I came up with the idea of making a prosthetic limb from the simplest materials we had so that I could go and collect aid, carry a bag of flour on my back, and walk normally. At least I would be able to bring food and water to my wife and children. I crafted the prosthetic and thanks God I managed to walk on it. It’s not good—it doesn’t cover even 20 percent of the disability, and it doesn’t replace my leg—but at least I can lean on it to fetch food and water. During this period, I will continue to use it, even though it harms me; it can wound my leg, cause infections, and worsen the pain. As you know, at present we have no medical care and no supplies. The situation keeps getting worse.”
10. Various shots, Ibrahim Abdel Nabi moving inside his tent with his wife helping him.
11. Various shots, Ibrahim Abdel Nabi sitting on a chair while his wife helps him wear the handmade prosthetic limb
12. Various shots, Ibrahim Abdel Nabi walking with the handmade prosthetic limb, supported by his wife
13. Various shots, the entrance of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the remaining part of the largest hospital in Gaza that was destroyed during the war
14. Various shots, inside the reception area of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, showing overcrowded wounded patients amid extremely limited medical resources
15. Various shots, child Mohammad Hassan sitting on a hospital bed after his left leg was amputated by an Israeli airstrike
16.Close up, Mohammad Hassan’s face as he looks into the camera
17. Various shots, Mohammad Hassan sitting on a hospital bed, visibly in pain
18. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Mohammad Hassan, Amputee:
“I was going to buy falafel. When I came back, before reaching home, I looked up and saw the missile falling on us. I tried to run, but it was too fast. I found myself thrown against a wall, and when I looked, my leg was gone. Then someone carried me and brought me to this hospital.”
19. Various shots, child Maryam Abu ‘Alba lying on a hospital bed; her right leg intact while the left leg is severely injured
20. Close up, Maryam Abu Alba’s face as she looks at the camera
21. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Maryam Abu Alba’s Grandmother:
“First, the house next to them was bombed, and then their house was hit. The child’s leg was amputated, while the other leg has metal plates because of a fracture. She suffers greatly from the amputation, and we appeal to everyone to provide her with a prosthetic limb and help treat her other leg because of severed tendons and nerves.”
22. Various shots, child Shahd lying on a hospital bed at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City
23. Med shot, Shahd showing her left arm amputated by an Israeli airstrike
24. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Shahd, Amputee:
“I was standing in front of our house when shrapnel hit me, and I was injured and lost my arm.”
25. Various shots, Shahd sitting on a hospital bed with her grandmother beside her
26.Close up, Shahd looking at the camera lens
27. SOUNDBITE (Arabic) Shahd, Amputee:
“I wish they would give me a prosthetic arm so I can move it again.”
28. Various shots, buildings of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, the largest hospital in Gaza, showing the extensive destruction caused by the war
Thousands of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip who have lost their limbs face dire living conditions and severe health complications due to the lack of proper medical care and the prosthetics they desperately need.
Local health data in Gaza documents 4,700 amputation cases, while the United Nations warns that the territory now hosts the largest population of amputees in the world, with no prospects for treatment or rehabilitation. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Gaza is home to the largest number of child amputees in modern history, as doctors are often forced to resort to amputations to save lives.
One such victim is Ibrahim Abdel Nabi, a displaced man from Rafah who lost his leg on 27 May while trying to collect food aid. He recounts his painful experience, saying he was hit by an explosive bullet that caused the immediate loss of his leg.
Nabi said, I bled for about an hour and a half, and no one came to rescue me because everyone was busy trying to get food for their children. Later, some young men rescued me and took me to the Red Cross hospital. I underwent about 12 operations, mostly wound cleanings due to malnutrition. Each time, another part of my leg had to be removed until I reached this state.”
To cope, Ibrahim and his wife crafted a rudimentary prosthetic limb from simple materials, hoping he could resume collecting aid for his family. He said, “it’s not good and doesn’t cover even 20 percent of the disability. It doesn’t replace my leg, but at least it helps me provide food and water for my family. Still, it harms me—it wounds my leg, causes infections, and increases the pain. Right now, we have no medical care, no supplies, and the situation is only getting worse.”
This harsh reality is evident in Gaza’s hospitals, like Al-Shifa, much of which has been destroyed. Patients overcrowd emergency departments, while medical resources are extremely scarce.
The tragedy of amputation is embodied in children like Mohammad Hassan, who lost his left leg in an Israeli airstrike while on his way to buy falafel; Maryam Abu ‘Alba, who lost one leg and fractured the other in an airstrike on her home; and Shahd, who lost her left arm to shrapnel and longs for a prosthetic to regain movement.
Victims and families are calling either for prosthetic limbs to be allowed into Gaza without restrictions, or for permission to travel abroad for treatment.
