In the Gaza Strip, where war has been raging since last October, people with disabilities are suffering all the more from the conflict as the delivery of medical equipment is very difficult, if not impossible. A local association is trying to help them.
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With our correspondents in Gaza and Jerusalem, Rami Al Meghari and Sami Boukhelifa
As the war enters its tenth month, the death toll has now exceeded 38,000 among the Palestinian population, according to a count by the Hamas Health Ministry. Israeli soldiers in tanks again stormed and shelled several neighborhoods in Gaza City on Monday, causing yet another forced displacement of the Gazan population. But how do you flee when you’re in a wheelchair? The UN constantly warns about the fate of the most vulnerable.
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Ibtihal is 13 years old, she suffers from spinal muscular atrophy, a rare genetic disease, which causes muscle atrophy. The teenager cannot walk. And since the beginning of the war, she can no longer move around in a wheelchair: ” I dream of a new wheelchair. The wheels on mine are damaged. A new chair would change my life. “, she explains. There are almost no more roads passable for people with reduced mobility. The Gaza Strip is a field of ruins crisscrossed by sandy paths. Ibtihal’s sister also suffers from the same hereditary disease. When they have to flee because of the Israeli bombardments, their relatives and their mother, Hiba, drag them for kilometers.
Delivering materials despite closed crossing points
“ When we left our home in Gaza City, we could not find refuge anywherelaments the mother. The shelters do not accept us because their structures are not suitable. We pitched our tent next to a hospital because the girls need daily care. They have caught all sorts of diseases. Their immune system is weak, and therefore their health is fragile. “.
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The family has recently been welcomed into a camp for displaced people opened by the Gazan association Atfalna (our children), led by Fidaa Shurab. Faced with the extreme emergency situation, it has no means. The association lacks everything. because of Closure of crossing points “, explains the head of the association. ” We are trying to work with local and international organizations to facilitate the importation of wheelchairs or hearing aids, or simply the batteries for these hearing aids. ” she continues. Without success, for the moment.