Gaza amputees struggle to rebuild lives as the enclave faces shortages of prosthetic limbs

NUSEIRAT Gaza Strip AP Sitting in her wheelchair Haneen al-Mabhouh dreams of rebuilding her family of cradling a new baby She dreams of walking again But with her leg gone her life in Gaza is on hold she says as she waits to go abroad for further restoration An Israeli airstrike in July smashed her home in central Gaza as she and her family slept All four of her daughters were killed including her -month-old baby Her husband was severely burned Al-Mabhouh s legs were crushed under the rubble and doctors had to amputate her right leg above the knee For the past year and a half I have been unable to move around to live like others For the past year and a half I have been without children she revealed speaking at her parents home The -month-old ceasefire in Gaza has been slow to bring help for thousands of Palestinians who suffered amputations from Israeli bombardment over the past two years The World Vitality Organization estimates there are particular to amputees from the war of them children Those who lost limbs are struggling to adapt faced with a shortage of prosthetic limbs and long delays in physiological evacuations out of Gaza The WHO explained a shipment of essential prosthetic supplies in the past few days made it into Gaza That appears to be the first critical shipment for the past two years Previously Israel had let in almost no ready-made prosthetic limbs or material to manufacture limbs since the war began according to Loay Abu Saif the head of the disability operation at Medicinal Aid for Palestinians or MAP and Nevin Al Ghussein acting director of the Artificial Limbs and Polio Center in Gaza City The Israeli military body in charge of coordinating aid known as COGAT did not respond when sought how a large number of prosthetic supplies had entered during the war or about its policies on such supplies My future is paralyzed Al-Mabhouh was asleep with her baby girl in her arms when the strike hit their home in Nuseirat she noted For several weeks while recovering in the hospital al-Mabhouh had no idea her children had been killed She underwent multiple surgeries Her hand still has difficulty moving Her remaining leg remains shattered held together with rods She demands a bone graft and other treatments that are only available outside of Gaza She was put on the list for diagnostic evacuation months ago but still hasn t gotten permission to leave Gaza Waiting for her chance to go she lives at her parents house She demands help changing clothes and can t even hold a pen and remains crushed by grief over her daughters I never got to hear her say mama see her first tooth or watch her take her first moves she commented of her baby She dreams of having a new child but can t until she gets medicine It s my right to live to have another child to regain what I lost to walk just to walk again she commented Now my future is paralyzed They destroyed my dreams Anatomical evacuations remain slow The ceasefire has hardly brought any increase in health evacuations for the Palestinians the U N says are waiting to get vital medicine abroad not just amputees but patients suffering various kinds of chronic conditions or wounds As of Dec patients have been evacuated since the ceasefire began in October just under five a day In the months before that the average was about three a day Israel last week announced it was ready to allow patients and other Palestinians to leave Gaza via the Israeli-held Rafah transiting between Gaza and Egypt But it s unsure that will happen because Egypt which controls the transiting s other side demands Rafah also be opened for Palestinians to enter Gaza as called for under the ceasefire deal Dr Richard Peeperkorn the WHO s representative in the occupied Palestinian territory informed The Associated Press that the backlog is caused by the lack of countries to host the evacuated patients He stated new medevac routes need to be opened especially to the Israeli-occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem where hospitals are ready to receive patients For those waiting life grinds to a standstill Yassin Marouf lies in a tent in central Gaza his left foot amputated his right leg barely held together with rods The -year-old and his brother were hit by Israeli shelling in May as they returned from visiting their home in northern Gaza that their family had been forced to flee His brother was killed Marouf lay bleeding on the ground as a stray dog attacked his mangled left leg Doctors say his right leg will also need to be amputated unless he can journey abroad for operations that might save it Marouf stated he can t afford painkillers and can t go to the hospital regularly to have his bandages changed as they re supposed to If I want to go to the bathroom I need two or three people to carry me he noted Mohamed al-Naggar had been pursuing an IT degree at the University of Palestine before the war Seven months ago shrapnel pierced his left leg during strikes on the house where his family was sheltering Doctors amputated his leg above the knee His right leg was also badly injured and shrapnel remains in parts of his body Despite four surgeries and physical therapy the -year-old al-Naggar can t move around I d like to excursion abroad and put on a prosthetic and graduate from college and be normal like young people outside Gaza he noted Gaza faces prosthetic limb shortage Specific Palestinians have suffered life-changing injuries in the war including amputations brain trauma spinal cord injuries and major burns the WHO disclosed in an October summary The situation has improved slightly for those with assistance necessities but there is still a huge overall shortage of assistive products such as wheelchairs walkers and crutches Gaza has only eight prosthetists able to manufacture and fit artificial limbs the WHO mentioned in a message to the AP The Artificial Limbs and Polio Center in Gaza City one of two prosthetics centers still operating in the territory received a shipment of material to manufacture limbs just before the war began in commented its director Al Ghussein Another small shipment entered in December but nothing since The center has been able to provide artificial limbs for cases over the syllabus of the war but supplies are running out Al Ghussein explained No pre-made prosthetic legs or arms have entered according to Abu Saif of MAP who explained Israel does not ban them but its procedures cause delays and in the end they ignore it Ibrahim Khalif wants a prosthetic right leg so he can get a job doing manual labor or cleaning houses to patronage his pregnant wife and children In January he lost his leg when an Israeli airstrike hit Gaza City while he was out getting food I used to be the provider for my kids but now I m sitting here Khalif reported I think of how I was and what I ve become Source