Gaza injury patterns suggest Israel targets civilians as combatants: Study

LONDON

A new analysis published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) concluded that the nature of injuries sustained by Palestinians in Gaza mirrors those typically seen in trained soldiers, raising serious questions about Israel’s conduct in the conflict.

The study, conducted by a panel of 78 experienced field medics deployed between August 2024 and February 2025, warned that wounds among civilians were “unusually severe,” suggesting the use of munitions engineered for maximum tissue destruction.

In total, the panel documented 23,726 trauma-related injuries. Of them, 18% were burns, many of which were catastrophic: more than one in 10 burns reached fourth degree, meaning the damage penetrated all tissue layers down to bone.

Children hit hard

Children, the study found, were particularly hard hit by these extreme burns.

Explosive weapons accounted for approximately two-thirds of all injuries, with major trauma inflicted on the head, chest, and limbs, it said.

The remainder resulted from gunshot wounds. The authors linked the wide extent of injury across body regions to what they called “the impact of indiscriminate aerial and heavy explosive bombardment in civilian areas.”

“Firsthand testimony from healthcare workers and victims in Gaza has been vindicated. These findings should ring alarm bells through the halls of government worldwide and the humanitarian community,” said Dr. Victoria Rose, one of the study’s authors.

The report recorded 2,325 firearm injuries, which disproportionately affected the limbs and major vessels.

In many cases, limited surgical resources meant amputation became the only viable option. Firearms made up about 30% of war-related trauma, consistent with patterns seen in the Syrian civil war, where civilians have also been attacked.

Almost 4 in 10 patients with gunshot wounds were hit in a limb; more than a quarter of those wounded in limbs were struck on both sides. Just under 10% of gunshot patients had been shot in the head.

Aid blockade compounds damage

“This shocking study blows the lid off Israel’s conduct in its genocide in Gaza. The high proportion of gunshot wounds to both limbs proves its military is shooting civilians to maim,” said Dr. Nidal Jboor of the Doctors Against Genocide advocacy group.

Compounding the damage, the report highlighted how malnutrition -- exacerbated by Israeli restrictions on humanitarian aid -- worsened recovery, leading to “delayed wound healing and preventable deaths from otherwise treatable conditions.”

The 78 clinicians behind the research represent 22 NGOs across Britain, the US, Canada, and the EU.

The journal article is believed to be the first to present systematic, frontline clinician-driven data on injury patterns in the Gaza war.

The Israeli army has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in Gaza since October 2023. The relentless bombardment has rendered the enclave uninhabitable and led to starvation and the spread of diseases.