Euro-Med monitor says Israeli travel limits keep 1,134 Gaza child amputees from care abroad

The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor said Wednesday, Nov. 4, that 1,134 children in Gaza have undergone limb amputations from Israeli attacks, and that few are getting the follow-up care they need. The Geneva-based group says Israeli limits on travel and medical evacuations are preventing hundreds of those children from reaching specialized treatment abroad.

The 1,134 figure is Euro-Med's own count, given as of Oct. 9. It has not been independently audited in the material the group released.

The prosthetics gap

The numbers on care come from the World Health Organization. Euro-Med, citing a WHO report issued in May, says about 2,300 amputees, children and adults, were assessed for treatment between September 2024 and May 2026. Only around 500, less than a quarter, had received permanent prosthetics or rehabilitation.

The workforce is thin. "Only eight certified prosthetics and orthotics professionals are currently available in Gaza," Euro-Med said.

There is also not enough equipment to make, fit, maintain and adjust artificial limbs inside the strip, the group said. It says Israeli restrictions block the import of the equipment needed to manufacture prosthetics locally. Specialized teams need entry permits to come in and train local staff.

Why children are a harder case

A child's prosthetic does not last. Limbs have to be refitted as the child grows. Euro-Med warned that gaps in follow-up "may cause further complications, chronic pain, and increased difficulty moving."

The group also pointed to education and psychological support, saying child amputees need long-term care and families are carrying the burden amid shortages of housing, income and basic services.

One mother, Fidaa Ahmad Al-Shaer, 36, told Euro-Med her 11-year-old son was paralysed and lost a hand when an Israeli artillery shell landed near him. He needs multiple surgeries abroad and a prosthetic limb, she said, but cannot get through the closed crossings.

The genocide claim

Euro-Med went well beyond the medical findings. It accused Israel of war crimes and said "deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction, in whole or in part, are acts listed in Article 2 of the Genocide Convention." The group added: "The amputation of children's limbs and the obstruction of their treatment and rehabilitation form part of this pattern."

That is the organization's legal conclusion. The group did not cite a court ruling in making it. The factual claims underneath it, the amputee count, the shortage of professionals and the restrictions on equipment and evacuations, are separate assertions that can be checked against WHO data, crossing records and Israeli policy.

Security context

The report lands against an unsettled backdrop. A ceasefire is nominally in place in Gaza, but the UN has said at least 67 Palestinian children have been killed since it began. OCHA, the UN humanitarian office, reported this week that gunfire hit multiple tents at a displacement site in Rafah, causing injuries and forcing a humanitarian partner to leave. Israel's air force and Shin Bet also killed Jamal Abu Sa'id, head of the operations department of Hamas's military wing, in Gaza City earlier this week.

Medical evacuation and equipment entry in a war zone involve real security screening, and the report does not lay out what Israel's stated criteria are for denying any particular case.

What is still open

The central question is whether the crossings will reopen for medical evacuations and whether permits and equipment will be allowed in for prosthetics work. Without either, the WHO figures suggest the gap between children assessed and children fitted will keep widening as they grow out of whatever devices they have.