GAZA: Thousands of Palestinians in danger of disability ever since the right to return demonstrations dubbed “the Great March of Return” against Israel’s long-running blockade began in March.
Doctors are troubled by the high number of disabling wounds, especially to the legs and knees, with Israel facing questions over both its disproportionate use of force and the types of ammunition it is using against demonstrators.
According to Al-Jazeera, the Israeli troops as an act of restraint considers firing only at the lower limbs— the legs more than any other part of the body but Israel of using types of ammunition aimed at permanently disfiguring their targets.
Since the protests began, out of 10,511 Israeli troops have shot at least 6,392 Palestinians in the legs. The vast majority are young men, and most of the wounded were hit in the lower limbs, according to the health ministry in Gaza.
“These are complex and serious injuries that do not quickly heal,” said a Paris-based aid group. “Their severity and the lack of appropriate treatment in Gaza’s crippled health system means that infection is a high risk, especially for patients with open fractures.”
“The consequences of these wounds … will be lifelong disability for many,” the aid group said. “And if infections are not tackled, then the results could be amputation or even death.”
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The Gaza‘s Health Ministry treating them has said to carried out 94 amputations and 82 people have had limbs amputated. In addition, hospitals in the blockaded Gaza Strip struggling with high Palestinian casualties and face severe suffering by medical staff
This Israeli violence during protests in Gaza left young Palestinians walking through dilapidated streets on crutches.
According to an Associated Press count, still 175 Palestinians have been shot to death.
The “Great March of Return”, a major protest movement along the border between Gaza and Israel, the demonstrators demanding the right to return to their homes seized by Israel in 1948.