UN warns disabled Palestinians face grave risks amid attacks

The UN experts on Friday warned that Palestinians with disabilities face "unbearable protection risks," including inescapable death and injuries, amid attacks by Israeli forces.

"A tragedy within a tragedy is taking place in Gaza, where Israel's genocidal campaign has left persons with disabilities completely unprotected. Persons with disabilities are being killed and injured by indiscriminate attacks despite posing no security threat, epitomising the deliberate assault on civilians by Israel," the experts said in a statement.

They noted that multiple evacuation orders disregarded persons with disabilities who often face extreme difficulties in following or understanding instructions.

"They were in the impossible situation of either leaving their houses and the assistive devices they require to survive or staying behind without their families and caregivers and being exposed to a heightened risk of being killed," they said. "During evacuation attempts, women and girls with disabilities are particularly exposed to increased dangers and further trauma."

Physical, informational, and communicational barriers make it next to impossible for persons with disabilities to access the humanitarian assistance available, they warned.

"With the health system in Gaza decimated and medical supplies unavailable, Israeli authorities have refused to establish a system for medical evacuations nor allowed life-saving support, so that thousands of persons with disabilities, especially children, can obtain the assistance they desperately need. People with disabilities require specialised medical supplies," the experts said.

They added that Palestinians with disabilities are also facing "extreme psychological harm and trauma," and that persons with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities are also in immensely vulnerable situations.

"Many of the almost 100,000 injured Palestinians in Gaza will acquire long-lasting impairments requiring rehabilitation, assistive devices, psychosocial support and other services that are severely lacking," they said. "The impact extends beyond physical injuries, with grave emotional and psychological traumas and wider effects on the social fabric and needs of families and communities, especially impacting women who often bear the brunt of caregiving."

Parties to the conflict must immediately accept a cease-fire, they said, also urging Israel to comply with the International Court of Justice advisory opinion of July 2024, which declared Israel's continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory "unlawful."

Israel has continued a devastating offensive on Gaza since an attack in October of last year by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.

More than 42,800 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 100,500 others injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the territory's entire population amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.