Disability in Conflict Zones: ‘I told my wife to take the children and run’

On 23 June, three toddlers sit on the top step and their grandmother stands on a landing, inside their partially destroyed home in the Shejaiya neighbourhood of Gaza City. They are among some 60 children and 20 adults from the same family living in the house, which was hit during an air strike a year ago. In late June 2015 in the State of Palestine, children and families are still struggling to recover from the violence that engulfed Gaza for over seven weeks during July and August 2014. The conflict killed 539 children and injured 2,956, leaving many struggling with life-long disabilities. More than 108,000 people, half of them children, were left homeless. Many continue to live amid ruins. Over 12,600 housing units were completely destroyed but rebuilding has yet to begin, prolonging hardship for some 100,000 people, half of whom are children. As a result of the conflict, more than 308,000 children also remain in need of psychosocial support. UNICEF has appealed for over US $37.3 million to meet the humanitarian needs of children in the State of Palestine during 2015, of which $27.4 million will help affected children and caregivers in Gaza recover from last year’s crisis.