In its latest update, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that at least 30,000 trauma cases across Gaza need long-term rehabilitation. Only 85 rehabilitation beds remain functional. Medical teams are overwhelmed, and many patients are suffering without access to even the most basic services. A recent WHO visit to Hamad Rehabilitation Hospital found children awaiting hearing services in visible psychological distress. There are no early intervention programs for non-traumatic disabilities.
The number of amputees needing prosthetics has surged to 6,000. This includes 4,000 new cases since the genocide began, and 2,000 pre-existing ones. At least 292 patients, among them 57 children, are waiting for stump revision surgeries. Rehabilitation materials are nearly gone. Some health facilities have already run out. Meanwhile, over 3,300 wheelchairs and other assistive devices remain stuck at Israeli-controlled crossings. As the crisis deepens, more patients are developing secondary complications. At Al Wafaa, Gaza’s only specialist rehab hospital, 30 percent of beds are now occupied by people with advanced pressure sores caused by immobility and lack of care.
Health Cluster partners warn that people with disabilities, chronic illnesses, and older adults are at high risk of further deterioration. Without treatment, many will face permanent disability, and the cost of long-term care will rise dramatically.
OCHA also reports a growing maternal health emergency. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) says women in Gaza are starving and giving birth without clean water, hygiene, or medical care. Half of Gaza’s essential maternal health medicines have been exhausted. No UNFPA supplies, including life-saving medications, have entered Gaza for more than three months. Israeli forces have blocked 190 trucks carrying maternal health items from crossing the border.
Fuel shortages are making matters worse. Without fuel, 80 percent of Gaza’s critical care units will shut down. Babies in incubators and women in labor face deadly risks as life-saving equipment shuts off. UNFPA reports that one in three pregnancies in Gaza is high-risk, and one in five babies is born prematurely or underweight. These infants require specialist care that is almost entirely unavailable now. Only five hospitals are still providing maternity care across Gaza.
The food situation is also alarming. Since the partial resumption of aid entry on May 19, about 9,000 metric tons of wheat flour have entered Gaza, equivalent to 360,000 25-kilogram bags, according to the report. However, most of it never reached warehouses. Desperate civilians offloaded much of the aid before distribution, and in some cases, Israeli-linked armed actors seized it. Another 50 trucks carrying mixed food items faced the same fate. Crowds emptied the trucks before they could be properly stored.
Gaza’s community kitchens are struggling to meet demand. At the end of April, 180 kitchens distributed over a million meals daily. By mid-June, only 42 kitchens remained operational, providing just 185,000 meals per day, a staggering 83 percent decrease. Israeli authorities continue to block humanitarian organizations from distributing food parcels, leaving tens of thousands of families without basic nutrition.
The Food Security Sector warns that unless frequent, large-scale deliveries are allowed through multiple crossings, hunger will continue to spread. Wheat prices are rising, and the lack of food is worsening the overall humanitarian disaster.
