Gaza now home to highest number of child amputees worldwide: UNRWA chief
Philippe Lazzarini says scars of war on Gaza’s children go beyond physical injuries to deep psychological trauma
9-year-old Palestinian child Miral Al Babli is waiting for a prosthetic leg after losing one of her legs in an Israeli attack on Nuseirat Refugee Camp, in Gaza City, Gaza on August 18, 2025.
ISTANBUL
Gaza has become home to the highest number of child amputees per capita worldwide since the start of Israel’s war, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said Wednesday.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said that up to 4,000 amputations were reported in Gaza since October 2023.
“The toll on children and childhood is beyond just the physical injury and the spreading hunger. Children’s scars are deep and invisible: anxiety, nightmares, aggression, fear. Many are being forced into begging, looting or child labour: a lost childhood,” he added on US social media company X.
“The longer this goes on, the more the children will be haunted by their ongoing and deepening traumas for generations to come,” he said, calling for a ceasefire “at least for the sake of children.”
UN investigators recently concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, where more than 65,400 people have been killed since October 2023.
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