Originally posted on LinkedIn by Simon Droeven, based in Brussels. Yet another example of Israel’s handiwork.

In northern Gaza, a 10-year-old girl who lost both arms in an Israeli airstrike now clutches a pencil between her toes to draw. Her father was killed. She survived. But every basic task, eating, dressing, bathing, has become a daily struggle.

She dreams of prosthetics, of learning again, of returning to a life where she’s not constantly dependent on others. But Gaza’s siege has made that dream unreachable.

She is one of thousands. As of March, a UN report estimated that Gaza had already seen 4,500 new amputees since October 2023, in addition to 2,000 pre-existing cases needing continued care.

Hundreds of these amputees are children, now growing up in tents, many with no access to surgery, physiotherapy, or prosthetic limbs. Gaza’s only prosthetics center is barely operating.

It faces acute shortages of fuel, electricity, and equipment, and is overwhelmed by a crisis it can no longer keep up with. Over 2,300 patients have already passed through its doors, but the numbers in need continue to skyrocket.

This crisis is not just about the loss of limbs; it’s about the systematic stripping away of futures. Gaza’s health infrastructure is in ruins. Amputations are often carried out in substandard conditions, without proper sterilization or surgical expertise, increasing the risk of infection, further disability, or even death.

Basic supplies are blocked at the border. Children who could have been saved lose more than a leg or an arm; they lose their ability to function, to play, to dream, to grow up with dignity.

But some stories show what’s still possible when Gaza’s children are given even the smallest chance. Bioniks, a social enterprise in Pakistan, uses smartphone scans to create affordable 3D printed prosthetic limbs.

In their first cross-border mission, they fitted a young girl from Gaza with a custom arm. As soon as she put it on, she jumped on a bike for the first time since the strike that took her limb.

HEAL Palestine is also doing wonderful work. Based in the US, they focus on evacuating wounded children from Gaza, including a growing number of amputees, to receive urgent treatment abroad.

They cover surgeries, prosthetics and psychological care, giving these young survivors a chance to reclaim basic movement and dignity. Their work is a lifeline for children who have lost limbs and been left with nothing.

Gaza is now home to more child amputees per inhabitant than anywhere else in the world. Most kids there will never see a prosthetic. Innovation can help, but without open borders and political will, most of Gaza’s wounded children remain trapped, with no second chance.

Gaza’s children are left to survive with nothing. No care, no limbs, no future. Some try to draw with their toes. Others wait for a prosthetic that may never come. All of them want the same thing: to live like children again.