Gaza: Nearly 42,000 people have life-changing injuries - Press Conference | United Nations

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Representative in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Rik Peeperkorn called on “many more countries” to accept medically evacuated patients from Gaza, as well as “the restoration of the West Bank and East Jerusalem medical referral pathway.”

Discussing the data from the WHO’s new injuries and rehabilitation trends in Gaza report, Peeperkorn said, “nearly 42,000 people in the Gaza Strip have life-changing injuries caused by the ongoing conflict.”

According to the report, released today, “one in four of those injuries are in children.”

Peeperkorn, briefing reporters in New York from Deir al-Balah, in the Gaza strip, said “as new injuries mount and health needs rise, the health system teeters on the brink of collapse.”

He said, “probably 12 or 13 of Gaza 36 hospitals remain partially functional,” and “none are fully functional despite the efforts of WHO, the emergency medical teams and other health partners.”

Peeperkorn noted that Gaza “once had around 1,300 physiotherapists at 4,000 occupational therapists,” but many have been displaced, and “at least 42 have been killed.

As the Israeli incursion into Gaza City intensifies, he said, WHO evacuated 180 patients and companions, and added that “Gaza’s health system is unable to provide specialist care or services beyond the most basic emergency treatment,” and “15,600 people, including 3,008 children, need to be medevac’d.”

Peeperkorn who has worked in many health emergencies and conflict zones in a career spanning over 20 years, said, “what I've witnessed in Gaza, I've never witnessed before.”

He said, “you’ve seen the health system disintegrating incredibly rapidly. And I'm still actually surprised that with a partly or minimally working health system, how much is done.”

Asked about malnutrition, the WHO official said, “if you talk to the physicians and medical specialists in hospitals, and I've seen so many patients, I mean, severe trauma patients. They've said even the simple trauma; their wounds didn't recover that quickly because almost all of them had a level of malnutrition.”

According to the report, life-changing injuries account for one quarter of all reported injuries of a total of 167,376 people injured since October 2023. Over 5,000 people have faced amputation. Based on a larger pool of data, the findings are consistent with WHO’s previous analysis.

Other severe injuries, including to arms and legs (over 22,000), to the spinal cord (over 2,000), to the brain (over 1,300), and major burns (more than 3,300) are also widespread, further increasing the need for specialized surgical and rehabilitation services and deeply affecting patients and their families across Gaza.

The report also highlights the prevalence of complex facial and eye injuries, especially amongst patients listed for medical evacuation outside Gaza, conditions often leading to disfigurement, disability, and social stigma.

The updated analysis draws on data from 22 WHO-supported Emergency Medical Teams (EMTs), Gaza’s Ministry of Health, and key health partners, providing a more comprehensive picture of rehabilitation needs as a result of severe trauma injuries.