A Palestinian Initiative to Rebuild Rehabilitation Services for Amputees in Gaza
Taawon, the Munib & Angela Masri Foundation, and the Global Health Institute at the American University of Beirut (AUB GHI), under the patronage of the Palestinian Ministry of Health and in collaboration with the World Health Organization in the occupied Palestinian territory (WHO oPt), have launched a joint initiative to establish a coalition framework and a twenty-year roadmap to rebuild Gaza’s rehabilitation sector. The initiative builds on the findings of the newly released report “Rebuilding Rehabilitation Services for Amputees in Gaza,” which exposes the unprecedented collapse of rehabilitation services across the Strip.
This initiative translates evidence into action through a comprehensive, long-term Palestinian plan focused on empowering Gaza’s rehabilitation ecosystem. It calls on Palestinian, regional, and international technical partners and institutions to join this collective effort so that the response is nationally led, sustainable, and evidence-driven.
About the Initiative
The initiative is grounded in the report “Rebuilding Rehabilitation Services for Amputees in Gaza”, which diagnoses the unprecedented crisis facing rehabilitation services, including major gaps in financing, infrastructure, human resources, and service delivery, using the WHO Health System Building Blocks.
The findings reveal a sharp decline in functional rehabilitation facilities, severe damage to infrastructure, and a critical shortage of prosthetics and assistive devices. Fewer than one-third of centers operate at limited capacity, and only eight prosthetists remain active in Gaza.
Gaza RehabCare offers a national roadmap to build an integrated rehabilitation system that restores mobility, independence, and dignity for amputees and all people in need of rehabilitation support.
Dr. Majed Abu Ramadan, Minister of Health in State of Palestine, stated: “The Ministry reaffirms its commitment to leading unified national efforts to guarantee every injured person’s right to treatment and rehabilitation. We call on all actors and supporters in the rehabilitation field to join under a national umbrella to build an efficient and sustainable rehabilitation system that meets the needs of our steadfast people in Gaza.”