Aller au contenu principal

In pictures: Israeli airstrikes’ destruction of Gazan rehabilitation centres

Physically disabled children return to find their centre destroyed by Israeli warplanes.
Numerous disabled Palestinians were killed during Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip (MEE/Mohammed Asad)

12 year old Abdulaziz al-Balbisi says he reached the headquarters of the Association of the Physically Disabled in Gaza and was shocked at the scene of destruction.

His school, al-Shams School, part of the association, was also destroyed. There were torn books and other school equipment on the floor and the walls were full of big holes.

“I don’t know what to do now, this school is where I grew up and learned a lot,” he said.

Sawsan al-Khalili, the secretary of the General Federation for the Disabled said “The occupation targeted nine institutions concerned with the affairs of the disabled in the Gaza Strip and some of them are completely destroyed now, including al-Wafa Hospital for Rehabilitation. Our latest statistics include the death of 11 disabled people during the war on Gaza, a number of them are children.”

She also added that this confirms the barbarity of the occupation and its denial of the international conventions as they do not differentiate between the young, old or disabled.

“We don’t know the reason for targeting these institutions, it is just savagery being translated on the ground in light of the silence of the world", she added.

Middle East Eye propose une couverture et une analyse indépendantes et incomparables du Moyen-Orient, de l’Afrique du Nord et d’autres régions du monde. Pour en savoir plus sur la reprise de ce contenu et les frais qui s’appliquent, veuillez remplir ce formulaire [en anglais]. Pour en savoir plus sur MEE, cliquez ici [en anglais].