42,000 Wounded in Gaza: Bleeding Numbers and a Childhood Fighting to Survive

In the besieged Gaza Strip, which has been bleeding for over a year, stories accumulate and the cries of the wounded rise above the rubble. War is no longer just the sound of blasts, but the echo of lives whose paths have been changed forever. Thousands wake up each day to a reality unlike the one they once knew — a reality defined by permanent injuries, new needs, scarce resources, and a tightening blockade under which severe crimes continue.

In this besieged territory, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights announced on Wednesday that nearly 42,000 people in Gaza have been wounded since the beginning of the war — injuries that turned lives upside down. Every number represents a life interrupted at a moment of pain that cannot be forgotten.

According to estimates by the World Health Organization, one out of every four of the wounded is a child. Children who should have been running through alleyways with laughter now face medical challenges and prosthetics teaching them how to stand again, and how to dream once more. For this reason, the Commission stated that Gaza has become home to the largest group of child amputees in modern history — a single sentence that condenses some of the harshest realities of our present.

On the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the Commission highlighted the story of Alaa Taleb, a young Palestinian woman who suffered hearing loss, among many others who live with lifelong disabilities including the loss of hearing or limbs due to the airstrikes on the Strip.

Meanwhile, humanitarian organizations continue to face severe restrictions that prevent them from meeting the needs of the wounded under extremely harsh conditions. Amid these constraints, Gaza’s voice remains clear: “Fragmented aid is not enough if lives are left surrounded by pain.”

And despite the suffering that has deeply affected every part of society, the people of Gaza continue to hold on to what remains of their strength and hope — believing in a tomorrow where individuals are not defined by what they lost, but by their right to a safe, just life, secured through steadfast resilience in the face of a world that too often practices double standards.