Injured Gazans Rally to Support Victims of Israeli Offensive

Hundreds of Palestinians injured during Israel’s summer offensive on the Gaza Strip on Thursday protested in Gaza City against what they say is official inaction for Palestinians disabled by Israeli warfare.

Participants in the protest called upon officials to form committees specializing in the affairs and rights of the wounded and to improve Palestinians’ access to medical care and medications, which are severely limited by the Israeli blockade of Gaza.

Protester Rami Dabbour told Ma’an that the number of injured Palestinians in Gaza reaches into the tens of thousands, estimating that around 74,000 Gazans live with some form of physical injury or disability as a result of Israeli attacks on the enclave of 1.8 million people.

Around 11,000 Palestinians were injured in Israel’s offensive in July-August 2014, adding to the tens of thousands previously injured in Israeli assaults in 2012, 2008-9, and on a weekly or daily basis in or near the border.

Thousands more still suffer complications from injuries sustained before 2006, when the Israeli military directly occupied Gaza.