The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has issued a harrowing report revealing that more than 80% of people with disabilities in Gaza have lost their assistive devices, such as wheelchairs, hearing aids, and walkers, due to Israel’s ongoing assault on the Strip.

This loss has stripped thousands of individuals of their basic right to mobility and access to vital services, exposing them to life-threatening risks. Without these essential tools, people with disabilities are unable to avoid hazards like unexploded ordnance scattered across their surroundings, leaving them more vulnerable than ever to injury, discrimination, and neglect.

OCHA also sounded the alarm over the increasingly desperate efforts of Gaza’s civilians to access food and basic necessities. Reports have surfaced of dozens being killed or wounded at an Israeli-run aid distribution site, while previous incidents include a 21-year-old man left permanently paralysed after being shot while trying to collect a bag of flour.

The report paints a grim picture of the growing isolation and suffering of Gaza’s most vulnerable, especially the elderly and people with disabilities, who face immense obstacles in securing the bare minimum to survive. Humanitarian access remains dangerously limited, while Israel's attacks continue with American backing.

Since the war began, over 197,000 people have been killed or injured, with thousands still missing and hundreds of thousands displaced. For Gaza’s disabled community, life has not only become unlivable, it has become a struggle for visibility, dignity, and survival.