UN: Disabilities, malnutrition, and fuel blockade worsening Gaza's crisis
More than 80 percent of people with disabilities in Gaza have lost their assistive devices, severely restricting their movement and access to essential services, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported, warning of growing risks for this vulnerable population.
'With their mobility restricted, vulnerable people are having to endure many challenges, including the denial of access to humanitarian aid, discrimination, stigmatization, and exposure to explosive ordnance,' the UN body warned.
We hold all parties to the standards of international law.We don't have to choose – and we must not choose – between ending the starvation of civilians in #Gaza and demanding the unconditional release of hostages.My remarks at Security Council: pic.twitter.com/V4TUM1WogF
— Tom Fletcher (@UNReliefChief) July 17, 2025
According to the United Nations, Israeli authorities are also blocking the delivery of fuel supplies to hospitals, further crippling Gaza's already overwhelmed health system. Fuel is critical for powering generators that keep intensive care units, incubators, and surgical wards functioning.
In a separate update, the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) reported alarming rates of child malnutrition. 'One in every ten children screened in our Gaza clinics is suffering from malnutrition,' the agency stated.
In #Gaza, older persons and persons with disabilities are facing escalating protection risks.Repeated displacement, lack of care, and collapse of support systems have left many without the basics for survival.🔗 Latest update https://t.co/xAwkp7beCa pic.twitter.com/6tSdJdzPok
— OCHA MENA (@ocharomena) July 17, 2025
Since January 2024, more than 240,000 children under the age of five have been examined.
'Before the war, malnutrition in Gaza was extremely rare,' UNRWA noted, adding that medications, nutritional supplements, hygiene supplies, and fuel are running dangerously low.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces continued intense air and artillery strikes across the Gaza Strip. According to Palestinian media, multiple air raids since dawn targeted residential neighborhoods in eastern Gaza City, while drones fired on homes in the Sheikh Radwan area in the north.
Hospitals in Gaza received 94 fatalities — including one body recovered from under rubble — and 367 wounded over the past 24 hours, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said in its latest update.
#شاهد.. لحظة نقل جرحى؛ جرّاء قصف مسيرة "إسرائيلية" تجمعًا للمدنيين في محيط مجمع الصحابة الطبي، داخل حي الدرج شرق مدينة غزة. pic.twitter.com/bAVAZ7fSuI
— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) July 17, 2025
The ministry added that many victims remain trapped under debris or lie in streets that rescue teams cannot reach due to ongoing hostilities.
Since the outbreak of hostilities on October 7, 2023, the overall death toll from Israeli military operations has reached 58,667, with at least 139,974 wounded, according to the Ministry of Health.
At least 26 of those killed in the past 24 hours were civilians attempting to access humanitarian aid, the ministry said, along with more than 32 wounded. The total number of people killed while seeking aid has now risen to 877, with over 5,432 injured.
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