(Jerusalem, September 30, 2024) – The Israeli government’s attacks and unlawful blockade against Gaza have inflicted profound trauma and suffering on Palestinian children, especially those with disabilities, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The Israeli military’s extensive use of explosive weapons has caused serious injuries resulting in permanent disabilities and lifelong scarring for children in Gaza. The 95-page report, “‘They Destroyed What Was Inside Us’: Children with Disabilities Amid Israel’s Attacks on Gaza,” documents that children who have acquired a disability and children who already had a disability in Gaza face a precarious security situation and additional difficulties as they struggle to comply with frequent Israeli army evacuation orders and a lack of effective advance warning of attacks. The ongoing siege of Gaza, the unlawful obstruction of humanitarian aid, the use of starvation as a weapon of war, and damage and destruction of hospitals cause disproportionate harm to children with disabilities, who struggle to access desperately needed medical treatment and supplies, assistive devices, food, and water. They are at particular risk of lasting psychological harm.

South Sudanese armed forces and armed opposition groups continue to recruit child soldiers and force them into the conflict, despite numerous commitments to stop.

The government of the Democratic Republic of Congo and United Nations peacekeepers should urgently take steps to arrest and transfer Sylvestre Mudacumura, military commander of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), to the International Criminal Court.