Two years after the war in Gaza began, the deep psychological scars remain for its youngest survivors, while a new World Health Organization (WHO) report reveals the staggering scale of life-altering physical injuries.
The enduring trauma is illustrated by the story of eight-year-old Yahya, a Palestinian boy who fled Gaza with his family and now lives in the UAE. Two years on, he is still haunted by the horrors he witnessed. His mother explains that even the sound of an electric fan can bring him to tears, as it reminds him of attack drones. “Are we being followed by Israeli fighter planes?” he anxiously asks. Yahya’s family was among the first to lose their home in October 2023, and despite finding safety, his mother says the “horrors of war still haunt” her children.
Yahya is one of tens of thousands facing a long road to recovery. A recent WHO report highlights that nearly 42,000 people in Gaza have sustained life-changing injuries since the conflict started. Critically, one in four of these severe injuries occurred in children.
The report details the devastating physical toll: over 5,000 people have undergone amputations, more than 22,000 have severe injuries to their arms and legs, and thousands more have suffered spinal cord injuries, brain damage, and major burns. The WHO warns that these individuals will require rehabilitation and support for years to come.
This catastrophic health crisis is unfolding within a medical system on the verge of collapse. Only 14 of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are partially functional, and less than a third of pre-war rehabilitation services are still operating. The system is also crippled by a severe shortage of medical professionals. For the thousands of amputees, only eight prosthetists remain in Gaza to manufacture and fit artificial limbs.
Dr. Richard Peeperkorn, a WHO representative, emphasized that the true burden is far greater than figures suggest due to widespread displacement and malnutrition, and stressed the profound mental health toll on survivors.
While the WHO report focused on injuries, the Palestinian Ministry of Health reported on October 6, 2025, that the death toll had reached 67,160, with nearly a third of the victims being children.
The WHO concluded that without an end to the conflict and immediate, substantial investment in the health system, thousands will be left without the care needed to recover and rebuild their lives.
