(Jerusalem, September 30, 2024) – The Israeli government’s attacks and unlawful blockade against Gaza have inflicted profound trauma and suffering on Palestinian children, especially those with disabilities, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The Israeli military’s extensive use of explosive weapons has caused serious injuries resulting in permanent disabilities and lifelong scarring for children in Gaza.  The 95-page report, “‘They Destroyed What Was Inside Us’: Children with Disabilities Amid Israel’s Attacks on Gaza,” documents that children who have acquired a disability and children who already had a disability in Gaza face a precarious security situation and additional difficulties as they struggle to comply with frequent Israeli army evacuation orders and a lack of effective advance warning of attacks. The ongoing siege of Gaza, the unlawful obstruction of humanitarian aid, the use of starvation as a weapon of war, and damage and destruction of hospitals cause disproportionate harm to children with disabilities, who struggle to access desperately needed medical treatment and supplies, assistive devices, food, and water. They are at particular risk of lasting psychological harm.

Two Israeli strikes in Lebanon on October 13, 2023, that killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah and injured six other journalists was an apparently deliberate attack on civilians and thus a war crime.

It is within the Israeli  authorities power to turn on the  water supply and ensure that there's fresh  drinking water available to hospitals and to families,  to civilians who are living under bombardment at the moment.

Tirana Hassan's address to the European Parliament Subcommittee on Human Rights on Israel, Palestine and international humanitarian law.

All Hostages Should be Immediately Released Safely and Unconditionally

ICC Has Mandate to Probe Attacks as War Crimes 

But what is international humanitarian law, and how does it apply to these hostilities?

Rockets fired toward Israel from the Gaza Strip, Sunday, Oct. 8, 2023. 

Movement Restrictions Wreak Havoc on Palestinian Lives

Israeli, Palestinian Violations Show Need for International Criminal Court Inquiry