DaysofPal – An estimated 35,000 children and adults in the Gaza Strip are now living with partial or total hearing loss as a result of the ongoing war, according to an investigation conducted by a local organization and reported by the French newspaper Le Monde. The finding highlights one of the most devastating and least visible, consequences of nearly two years of sustained bombardment.
In a report by journalist Marie-Jo Sader, Le Monde examined the profound humanitarian impact of the war on Gaza’s population, shedding light on a “silent catastrophe” affecting hearing, particularly among children, amid the collapse of the healthcare system and the near-total absence of treatment and support.
The report opens with the story of Dana, a young girl who lost her hearing after a missile exploded near her bedroom. Since then, communication within her family has become a daily struggle, compounded by the fact that none of her relatives know sign language and no assistive services are available.
Dana’s father eventually took her to specialists at the Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children in Gaza, whose staff continue their work despite the destruction of the organization’s main headquarters. There, the family was informed that Dana’s auditory nerve had been “severely damaged—possibly destroyed—by the force of the explosion.”
The tragedy extends to even younger children. Le Monde recounts the story of Ayan Al-Qarra, an infant who was hurled by an explosion near his family’s displacement tent and buried under sand. His mother, Safa, recalled the moment they found him: “We recognized him by his feet sticking out of the sand. He was in a horrific state.
We thought he wouldn’t survive.” Although Ayan lived, medical examinations later confirmed that his hearing had been entirely lost.
Ayan urgently requires a hearing aid and may need a cochlear implant to prevent severe developmental delays. However, like Dana’s family, his relatives face the impossibility of obtaining such devices under the blockade imposed on Gaza, as Le Monde reports.
Medical specialists explain that hearing loss in Gaza is not caused solely by direct injuries but also by the powerful shockwaves generated by repeated bombardment. These acoustic blasts can inflict severe, often irreversible, damage to the auditory nerve.
The crisis has been exacerbated by strict restrictions on the entry of medical equipment. No hearing aids or even their batteries have entered the Gaza Strip for many months, coinciding with the widespread destruction of health infrastructure and a critical shortage of specialized medical personnel.
In this context, Fadi Abed, director of the Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children, said the number of people with disabilities in Gaza has more than doubled since the war began. While the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics previously estimated around 58,000 persons with disabilities, the figure has now risen to approximately 132,000 across all categories. Of these, about 35,000 have lost their hearing due to intense explosions, lack of healthcare, and the absence of assistive devices.
United Nations data further underscore the severity of the situation. The UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities reported that at least 21,000 children in Gaza have developed disabilities since the outbreak of the war on October 7, 2023.
The committee also stated that approximately 40,500 children have been injured during nearly two years of hostilities, with more than half now living with permanent disabilities.
The UN body highlighted an additional dimension of suffering, noting that people with hearing or visual impairments have often been unable to comply with evacuation orders because their conditions render evacuation “impossible.” Reports have documented cases in which persons with disabilities were forced to flee under unsafe and degrading conditions, including crawling through sand or mud without any mobility assistance.
Healthcare workers have warned that malnutrition, overcrowding, and the lack of primary healthcare services in displacement camps could lead to a further rise in hearing impairments, particularly among children and newborns.
In December 2024, UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini cautioned, on the occasion of the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, that Gaza now has “the highest proportion of children with disabilities in the world.”
Le Monde concludes that an entire generation of Gaza’s children is at risk of educational and psychological isolation due to the absence of treatment and support. Hearing loss, the report notes, has become one of the quietest yet most brutal consequences of the ongoing war on the Gaza Strip.
Shortlink for this post: https://daysofpalestine.ps/?p=71164
