LONDON

At least 21,000 children have been left disabled in Gaza since Israel’s war on the enclave began nearly two years ago, according to a UN committee.

The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) reported on Wednesday that about 40,500 children have suffered “new war-related injuries” during the conflict, with more than half resulting in permanent disability.

According to the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) system, through June 2026, at least 132,000 children under five are expected to suffer from acute malnutrition—double the estimate made in May 2025.

The UN committee expressed “grave concern” at the extensive loss of life and the heightened risks of violence faced by Palestinians with disabilities in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

In Gaza, it said, a lack of specialized services, medical equipment, and assistive devices has led to the deaths of children and older people with disabilities.

Reports also highlighted fatalities from famine, acute malnutrition, and deprivation of access to water.

The CRPD found that early warning systems and evacuation measures had “consistently failed to protect people with disabilities.”

Warnings and evacuation orders—whether by text message or signage—were often inaccessible to people with hearing or visual impairments, leaving many unable to flee. Testimonies described people forced to crawl through sand or mud without mobility assistance.

The committee was informed that “83% had lost their assistive devices and could not afford alternatives, such as donkey carts.”

In response, it called for accessible and inclusive warning systems and evacuation protocols, stressing the need for safe corridors and urging third states to streamline evacuation procedures so that people with disabilities could leave “with the medical, psychosocial, and rehabilitation support they required.”

The report also highlighted the disproportionate impact of restrictions on humanitarian aid. People with disabilities, it said, suffered severe disruptions in assistance, leaving many without food, clean water, or sanitation.

Entry bans, limits on aid, attacks on convoys, and discrimination in distribution “routinely excluded” them, with women with disabilities in displacement facing particular barriers.

The committee urged Israel to lift restrictions on humanitarian operations, allow the entry of essential supplies, and enable the delivery of mobile and home-based aid.

The Israeli army has launched a brutal military offensive on the Gaza Strip, killing more than 63,700 Palestinians in Gaza. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, which is facing famine.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.

A UN committee says more than 40,000 children have been wounded in nearly two years of war, with aid blockades leaving many without food, water, or medical care.