Summary record (partial) of the 792nd meeting: Situation of persons with disabilities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory – Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD/C/SR.792)

13 August 2025

Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

Thirty-third session

Summary record (partial)* of the 792nd meeting**

Held at the Palais des Nations, Geneva, on Wednesday, 13 August 2025, at 3 p.m.

Chair: Ms. Kim Mi Yeon

Contents

Other matters

Situation of persons with disabilities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

 The meeting was called to order at 3 p.m.

Other matters

         Situation of persons with disabilities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

1. The Chair said that the Committee had convened the meeting to consider the situation of persons with disabilities affected by war in the Occupied Palestinian Territory under articles 11 and 36 (1) of the Convention.
2. Al-Azzeh (Coordinator, Country Task Force) said that the Committee had collaborated with a wide range of partners, including United Nations entities, civil society organizations, international organizations and government bodies in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and in neighbouring countries to gather information in preparation of the meeting. The current meeting was important, although participants must be realistic about what could be achieved. The Committee would be drafting a follow-up report, summarizing the conclusions of both public and closed meetings. The report would include recommendations intended to serve as advocacy tools for the Committee, other United Nations bodies, organizations of persons with disabilities and civil society organizations.
3. The discussion would be guided by the Convention, with a particular focus on article 11, while recognizing that all articles of the Convention – particularly those on general principles and general obligations – were interconnected. Furthermore, the preamble explicitly referred to the responsibilities of occupying Powers in protecting persons with disabilities.
4. A representative of the Palestinian Union of Persons with Disabilities said that the report submitted by the Union for the current session focused on article 3 of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and article 11 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities on the rights of persons with disabilities in situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies, along with the body of international treaties relevant to that issue. All persons with disabilities had been affected by the war because they were deprived of their rights and access to services. Many were unable to understand some of the dangers surrounding them or to respond to the warnings that might be issued during the occupying Power’s military operations, due to their disability. All rights of persons with disabilities in the Gaza Strip had been violated, including the right to life. In the West Bank and Jerusalem, most of their rights were denied.
5. The situation was deteriorating due to the continuation of the Israeli war against all segments of the population. Many persons with disabilities had lost their lives or sustained injuries as a result of the bombing of their homes, services and rehabilitation centres, or shelters to which they had fled, such as schools and hospitals. The war had caused the repeated displacement of all persons with disabilities. The best case scenario was living in inadequate shelters without any services. Some persons with disabilities had no place to live. They were living on the streets without any means of subsistence. Persons with disabilities faced the threat of arbitrary arrest, like other civilians in the Gaza Strip, and detention conditions did not take into account the nature of their disabilities. They lacked basic necessities such as water, food, medicine, personal hygiene products and medical supplies and assistive devices. There was also a lack of fuel, electricity and means of communication. Persons with disabilities were denied their right to health, medical treatment and rehabilitation due to the complete destruction of the health system, caused by the occupying Power’s targeting of hospitals, health centres and rehabilitation centres. They were denied their right to education as a result of the war, and their educational future was uncertain due to the targeting of schools and destruction of universities and vocational education centres by the occupying Power. The facilities of the Union in the Gaza Strip, including five rehabilitation centres for persons with disabilities, had been bombed and completely destroyed. There were no roads or infrastructure as a result of the shelling. Lastly, although the destruction had been documented in the media and independent press, what was shown represented only a fraction of what was happening off camera. The war had directly caused a dramatic increase in the number of persons with disabilities.
6. His organization wished to make several recommendations. First, every effort should be made to end the war without delay. Second, emergency and humanitarian aid must include sufficient quantities of assistive devices, medicines and daily necessities for persons with disabilities. Third, work must begin immediately to rebuild institutions for persons with disabilities in parallel with the reconstruction of the health and education systems, as a matter of priority, given the dire situation of persons with disabilities in Palestine, especially in the Gaza Strip. Lastly, the international community must endeavour to hold the occupying Power accountable for its violations of international law and ensure that the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and other instruments were enforced without exception.
7. A representative of the Palestinian Disability Coalition said that the Israeli occupation Government and its partners were deliberately and systematically targeting Gaza and its people with a starvation campaign. The campaign sought to increase the various forms and causes of death. People would die not only because they were bombed or because the healthcare system and the infrastructure had been destroyed, but also because there was no food and they were being starved.
8. Those who were concerned about what was happening in Gaza and in Palestine in general were well aware that it was not only the Israeli occupation Government that was responsible for the genocide, occupation and colonization of Palestine and Gaza. The countries that provided support or arms to assist in the killing of the people in Gaza were also responsible. Anyone claiming to be concerned about human rights should also hold those States accountable. States that covered the costs of the occupation, the killings, and the criminal and terrorist activities were just as liable as the Israeli occupation Government.
9. Palestinians in general had been subject to arbitrary arrest and detention since the beginning of the Israeli occupation and colonization. The international community had not stood up for the nearly 1 million Palestinians who had been arrested since 1948. Palestinians with disabilities had also been arrested, not only those who were activists, but also, for example, a 17-year-old boy with intellectual disabilities. He had been placed in administrative detention without a valid reason and had yet to be released from prison.
10. It should be emphasized that the Israeli occupation Government had a policy of creating disability in Palestine. Her delegation believed that disability was a natural part of human diversity, but when disability was deliberately caused, it constituted the engineering of disability.
11. The humanitarian response system had failed to deal with the genocide in Gaza. It had failed in the face of arrogance and tyranny on the part of the Israeli colonial regime. It had failed in the face of the companies that were partners with that regime. It was a failure not only in terms of disability inclusion. It was a failure in general. Her organization had attempted, for example, to work with the World Health Organization (WHO) so that persons with disabilities who had chronic diseases in Gaza were included in the Organization’s priorities. It had sent countless letters to WHO, but to no avail. Disability was not among its priorities because of politically conditioned funding.
12. It was past time for the United Nations and all Member States to recognize that the Government of Israel was a terrorist government. For Palestinians, based on their lived experience, the actions of the colonial Israeli occupation Government met the definition of terrorism.
13. A representative of the Arab Organization of Persons with Disabilities said that her organization had submitted a report to the Committee containing a number of recommendations that might help stakeholders to fulfil their important roles. The Committee should remind Israel that it was an occupying Power and must comply with the Geneva Conventions and the protocols thereto on the occupation of foreign territories. At the same time, her organization urged the Security Council to hold Israel accountable for its violations of the Geneva Conventions, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the relevant Council resolutions. That included holding it to account for attacks on health facilities and aid workers, and forced displacement, which disproportionately affected persons with disabilities. A specialized committee should be established to document crimes and violations related to disability, such as the denial of access to evacuation routes and attacks on persons with disabilities in Gaza and the West Bank. United Nations entities should give priority to persons with disabilities in the distribution of aid and increase disability-inclusive aid, including through the use of tactile maps and sign language interpreters.
14. The United Nations must demand an immediate ceasefire and the establishment of safe zones and accessible evacuation corridors, as persons with disabilities faced higher risks during forced displacement. For example, 15 per cent of displaced persons in Gaza were persons with disabilities, who lacked ramps or adapted toilets. The International Criminal Court and United Nations human rights bodies had a responsibility to investigate war crimes and violations against persons with disabilities, including deliberate attacks on health facilities and forced displacement.
15. The Israeli occupation authorities must allow unrestricted access to critical supplies, such as prosthetic limbs and medical equipment, and cease obstructing aid, which had led to numerous deaths, including of many persons with disabilities. The Israeli army must stop attacks on health centres, rehabilitation centres and hospitals. It must allow persons with disabilities to move freely and grant travel permits to those who urgently needed medical treatment. The closure of the Rafah border crossing by Israel had led to the detention of persons, including children and adults with temporary or permanent war-related disabilities.
16. Persons with disabilities in Gaza had been traumatized by repeated displacement and harassment in camps. Humanitarian organizations, whether international organizations, non‑governmental organizations or government agencies, should support organizations of persons with disabilities to lead recovery efforts and ensure the participation of persons with disabilities in decision-making processes.
17. In conclusion, the conditions of genocide in Gaza and the escalating violence in the West Bank had created a tragedy for Palestinians with disabilities. While long-term strategies must aim to end systematic discrimination and ensure justice for persons with disabilities under occupation, there was a need to take immediate action to save lives.
18. A representative of the Stars of Hope Society said that the information that she would cite was based on the results of studies on the ground in Gaza and the West Bank and information provided by the World Health Organization, the United Nations Children’s Fund and the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, among other organizations. The information showed that violations committed by the Israeli occupation forces had caused 35,000 Palestinians to acquire disabilities since the start of the war. According to a survey conducted by her organization in Gaza, 87 per cent of women with disabilities were unable to obtain sanitary products when they were menstruating. Healthcare services for pregnant women were lacking, as were basic amenities such as toilets. A total of 92 per cent of persons with disabilities had been unable to obtain food or medication and many had lost their assistive devices following the bombing of their homes. Overcrowded conditions and a shortage of supplies in shelters and displacement camps increased the risk of harassment and exploitation, particularly for women and girls with disabilities and older women, who also suffered from a lack of privacy. Fifteen children per day acquired a permanent disability, including in particular many amputations. Children were often separated from their carers while being displaced, meaning they were more likely to be deprived of life-saving services, and many children with disabilities had lost their mobility aids. Since October 2023, a significant number of children had not attended school, and children with disabilities faced multiple barriers in temporary learning spaces. Sources in the West Bank reported that basic livelihoods were lacking, homes were being converted into military barracks and people were being exposed to settler violence. It was clear from the information gathered by her own organization and from United Nations sources that women and children with disabilities were the most vulnerable to violence, poverty and hunger. Her organization called for a ceasefire and an end to the blockade.
19. A representative of QADER for Community Development said that his organization had submitted to the Committee a report on the Israeli policy of weaponizing starvation for genocide and forced displacement and its disproportionate impact on persons with disabilities in Gaza. A further five reports examined the violations of the rights of persons with disabilities committed by the Israeli occupation forces in the light of international humanitarian law, international human rights law and criminal law. Under the Convention, the Israeli occupation Government had the primary responsibility for ensuring that the rights of persons with disabilities were not violated. However, the State of Palestine should also assume responsibility for protecting those rights.
20. While his organization understood the importance of being realistic about the role of the Committee in the current context, now that almost two years had passed since the start of the genocide, consideration should be given to activating article 6 of the Optional Protocol to the Convention to establish a commission of inquiry responsible for investigating the violations committed.
21. A representative of the Disability Justice for Palestine Collective said that the events unfolding in Palestine, particularly in Gaza, were making disability a central aspect of Palestinian life. The violence of the Israeli regime had harmed persons with disabilities not only in Palestine but also in Lebanon, the Syrian Arab Republic, Yemen, Iraq and the Islamic Republic of Iran. The focus of the current meeting was on Palestine, but the killing and deliberate disablement of people across the region could not be ignored.
22. The international system had failed Palestine. Western Governments had acted with impunity in violating human rights and humanitarian law. They had not only failed to prevent the genocide but had actively enabled it. The United Nations system had also failed to prevent war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide against the Palestinian people. Structural power imbalances had stalled decision-making, silenced necessary interventions and blocked political and humanitarian action. The funding crisis had exacerbated the problem, forcing United Nations agencies to prioritize their survival as institutions over action to fulfil their mandates.
23. Persons with disabilities had been among the groups hardest hit by the crisis. They had been displaced multiple times, stripped of all support, subjected to arbitrary detention, and injured, tortured and killed with impunity. Currently, persons with disabilities were among the first to be dying from starvation. Everyone had seen the evidence that the Israeli occupation forces were starving Palestinian children. The Israeli authorities claimed that the extreme frailty of such children was caused not by starvation but by disability, as if the existing conditions made their deaths acceptable. Disability must never be used as justification for violence or for denying people the right to food, water and life itself.
24. Despite the clear links between Palestine and disability, the global disability community had largely refrained from addressing the struggle. Many organizations of persons with disabilities had chosen not to speak at the current meeting. It was therefore not surprising that the narrative around the genocide and occupation rarely addressed the situation of persons with disabilities. Those who had the platform and power to raise the issue had chosen not to use them.
25. The atrocities of the past 22 months were not a sudden aberration but the culmination of decades of policies aimed at displacing and replacing the Palestinian people. The international community should ask itself whether it was prepared to cut ties with Israel, as it had done decades previously with the apartheid regime in South Africa. His organization urged the Committee to call for an immediate ceasefire and the cessation of all violations of the rights of persons with disabilities.
26. All States Parties to the Convention should be urged to end arms exports to Israel and investments that enabled violations of international law. An inquiry into the situation of persons with disabilities in Gaza and the West Bank should be launched. Disability inclusion should be promoted in every United Nations discussion, resolution and operational response regarding Palestine and steps should be taken to engage with Palestinian organizations of persons with disabilities to ensure their leadership and participation.
27. Even before the genocide, the number of Palestinians with disabilities had been grossly underestimated. Now, persons with temporary or permanent disabilities, including severe trauma, probably constituted the majority of the population. Palestinians with disabilities should participate in, and lead, humanitarian aid and recovery efforts. Inside Palestine, activists with disabilities were already carrying out such work at great personal risk.
28. The Palestinian Disability Coalition had worked tirelessly to draw attention to the situation of persons with disabilities in Gaza and the West Bank. Recently, in Gaza, the Gaza Forum Association for the Visually Impaired had set up a food distribution point because blind people were unable to access aid dropped from aircraft or channelled through inaccessible systems. Palestinians with disabilities continued to organize, despite the risks and hardships that they faced. Their work should be honoured with action instead of being met with silence. The international community could not look away or allow the disability rights framework to be diluted in ways that erased the reality of genocide, occupation and apartheid.
29. A representative of the International Disability Alliance said that the situation in Gaza and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory had deteriorated drastically. Israel was primarily responsible for that situation and for serious breaches of international law. The international community had been unwilling or unable to address the situation in the Territory and had failed to use political and legal means to put an end to the conflict and violence. The order issued by the International Court of Justice in 2024, instructing Israel to desist from any and all acts within the scope of article II of the Genocide Convention, had failed to have the desired protective effect. The scale of the horror and inhumanity inflicted upon the Palestinian people, including persons with disabilities, was so profound that it undermined trust in the efficacy of the international human rights system. International organizations seeking to provide humanitarian assistance continued to face obstacles to their work, and a large number of their staff members had been killed in armed attacks. Humanitarian action failed to fully include persons with disabilities, and armed attacks had impacted the relatively scarce amount of disability-specific aid. In one incident, a warehouse containing assistive devices, managed by WHO, had been destroyed.
30. The international community had failed to fulfil its responsibilities to safeguard peace and security, de-escalate the situation, bring about a ceasefire and ensure full respect for international law. Despite being Parties to the Convention, many Member States had not used their political influence to improve the situation for Palestinian persons with disabilities. Some States had remained silent, while others had provided various forms of support to Israel. The Committee’s outcome document should include recommendations directed at the Government of Israel, the authorities of the State of Palestine and States receiving asylum‑seekers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The Committee might also call on United Nations agencies and the Secretariat to highlight the situation of persons with disabilities and stress the need for disability-inclusive humanitarian action in all their work.
31. With regard to the accountability of the perpetrators, the Committee might wish to stress that the ongoing efforts being made to develop a treaty on the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity, and the application of current international law, should take account of the disproportionate impact of such crimes on persons with disabilities. The International Disability Alliance reiterated its call for an immediate ceasefire and urged Israel to allow disability-inclusive humanitarian assistance to be provided in Gaza and wherever it was needed in the rest of the Occupied Territory.
32. A representative of Al-Haq said that it would be wrong for the Committee to engage in a constructive dialogue with a State that was committing war crimes and crimes against humanity, as it would promote a climate of impunity and embolden that State to commit further crimes. The treaty body system should not allow impunity for violations of human rights committed by States Parties. Her organization called for the treaty body system to be reformed in such a way as to ensure that States would be held accountable for human rights violations. It also called on the Committee to issue a special report regarding the situation of persons with disabilities during the ongoing genocide in Palestine. The Committee should also consider informing States Parties that they should not be complicit in any violations of the rights of persons with disabilities under the Convention. She called on the Secretary-General to hold a conference to discuss the violations perpetrated in the Occupied Palestinian Territory by the Israeli occupation forces.
33. A representative of the East Jerusalem YMCA said that, since October 2023, his organization had worked with over 500 persons with newly acquired disabilities or injuries in the West Bank alone. In Gaza, the lives of persons with disabilities were continually threatened by military attacks, the ongoing blockade and the destruction of critical infrastructure. Thousands of persons with disabilities, mainly children, older persons and women, had been caught up in a cycle of displacement, destruction and deprivation. Thousands of children had undergone amputations, leaving them with life-changing impairments. However, the overstretched humanitarian response mechanisms often failed to prioritize them.
34. For survivors of air strikes and forced displacement, shelters lacked accessibility, basic services were scarce and access to essential medical supplies, assistive devices and even food was blocked. Medical care was delayed or denied, surgery appointments were postponed and attacks on hospitals had left persons with disabilities without access to urgent treatment, rehabilitation or medication. Owing to the lack of disability-disaggregated data, the needs of persons with disabilities remained invisible in humanitarian planning, frequently causing persons with disabilities to miss out on aid.
35. In the West Bank, checkpoints, closures and the destruction of infrastructure restricted access to healthcare, rehabilitation, schools and jobs, depriving many persons with disabilities of accessible housing and basic services. The actions of the Government of Israel were in violation of international law, including article 11 of the Convention, and international humanitarian law. The East Jerusalem YMCA called for an immediate ceasefire to halt the violence against all persons, especially persons with disabilities. The Israeli authorities should immediately comply with article 11 of the Convention in order to promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities in both Gaza and the West Bank.
36. The blockade should be ended immediately, and persons with disabilities should be granted unrestricted access to humanitarian aid, including food, medical supplies, assistive devices and fuel. Urgent measures should be taken to restore the healthcare system, enabling access to essential medication, rehabilitation, reconstructive surgery and mental health support. All humanitarian actors should prioritize and explicitly address the needs of persons with disabilities in aid efforts to ensure that they received appropriate protection and care.
37. A representative of Women Enabled International said that she spoke on behalf of 41 organizations of persons with disabilities and other disability rights and justice organizations and 17 individuals who stood in solidarity with Palestinians. The genocide in Palestine was a catastrophic humanitarian and legal failure that demonstrated the ways in which States were responsible for the mass production of disability. In Gaza and the West Bank, women, girls and gender-diverse persons with disabilities had endured prolonged systemic violence under the decades-long occupation by Israel, compounded by repeated military assaults and the deliberate dismantling of healthcare, sanitation and social service infrastructure. Access to assistive devices, sexual and reproductive healthcare and psychosocial support had been routinely denied, and specialized disability services were either non-existent or inaccessible due to fuel shortages, travel restrictions or the destruction of facilities. The colonial practices of Israel had severely limited access to education, employment and community life, with women, girls and gender-diverse persons with disabilities often subjected to isolation, poverty and a heightened risk of gender-based violence. The deliberate fragmentation of Palestinian land and institutions had systematically prevented the realization of Convention rights. The context of prolonged oppression must be fully acknowledged in any effort to address the human rights violations now unfolding on a catastrophic scale. Multiple reports by United Nations agencies highlighted the challenges that women, girls and gender-diverse people faced, including malnutrition, having to give birth without anaesthesia, illegal detention and sexual assault by Israeli occupation forces and lack of access to menstrual hygiene products. Israel was currently committing an unimaginable genocide against Palestinians that was producing disability, both visible and invisible, on a massive scale. In recent months, Israel had deliberately engineered a famine in Gaza in a calculated attempt to starve the population. The resulting humanitarian crisis had disproportionately affected persons with disabilities, many of whom were unable to access limited aid supplies, stand in long queues or even digest the limited food available. Persons with disabilities were attempting to survive under conditions that were structurally designed to eliminate them.
38. As a Party to the Convention, Israel was legally bound to uphold the rights of persons with disabilities, including under article 11, which required it to take all necessary measures to ensure the protection and safety of persons with disabilities in situations of risk, including situations of armed conflict and humanitarian emergencies. Moreover, as the occupying Power in Gaza and the West Bank, it was bound by the Fourth Geneva Convention, which mandated the protection of civilians – including persons with disabilities – from collective punishment, forced displacement and deprivation of essential services. Israel was also bound by its obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child and customary international law. The Committee must urgently reaffirm that non-compliance with those obligations, particularly in the context of widespread and systemic harm, might amount to grave breaches of international law and warrant independent investigation and accountability.
39. The organizations that had endorsed her statement reiterated their strong solidarity with the people of Palestine and urged the Committee to demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire. They demanded that Israel should provide full access to independent sources of aid for all, especially for persons with disabilities, and that it should permit the delivery of immediate life-saving medical services and medication, sexual and reproductive health services and accessibility services for persons with disabilities. They called on the Committee to initiate an independent inquiry into the violations committed by Israel against persons with disabilities, with a specific focus on women and girls with disabilities. Most importantly, they demanded an end to the genocide and for Israel to be held fully accountable for its actions.
40. A representative of the World Federation of the Deaf, speaking in a pre-recorded video message, said that his organization comprised national associations of deaf persons from 139 countries, including Palestine. Across the world, over 70 million deaf persons were fighting for their rights, but in Palestine, that fight was all the more difficult. Since 2023, there had been significant breaches of several articles of the Convention, with a disproportionate impact on deaf persons, who faced violence, exploitation, exclusion and harm, both as persons with disabilities and as members of a linguistically and culturally oppressed minority. The lives and deaths of deaf persons in Gaza and the West Bank were ignored, even by the systems meant to protect them. Since October 2023, at least 170 deaf Palestinians, including children, mothers, teachers, community leaders and entire families, had been killed, not because they refused to flee or to protect themselves, but because evacuation warnings had never reached them in an accessible format. Blackouts isolated deaf people from the broader community and severed important communication channels: without electricity or the Internet, they had no way of knowing what was coming or where to go. In one tragic case, a deaf mother in Rafah, unaware that her neighbourhood was under evacuation orders, had remained in her home and had been killed along with her children. With no Palestinian Sign Language interpreters deployed or connected remotely via video calls, no emergency guidance in sign language and no accessible trauma services, deaf persons were left to cope with crisis in isolation, excluded from aid and protection and unable even to mourn with others the loss of loved ones.
41. In the West Bank, deaf Palestinians living in or near refugee camps faced daily military raids, roadblocks and arbitrary arrests. Because they could not hear commands or warnings, they were at greater risk of violence. They lacked shelter and access to schools, sign language interpreters and social protection safety nets. They were invisible and excluded from all humanitarian responses.
42. Deaf-led organizations such as the Palestinian Union of the Deaf had not been included in humanitarian coordination mechanisms, contrary to the Committee’s general comment No. 7 (2018), leaving a gap in advocacy and service provision. Humanitarian packages did not include sign language interpretation, accessible communication devices or trauma-informed interventions in sign language. Many United Nations agencies and international non-governmental organizations still lacked disability focal points with knowledge of how to effectively include deaf persons and their communities, perpetuating neglect at every level of response.
43. The World Federation of the Deaf and the Palestinian Union of the Deaf demanded urgent action, including the entry of life-saving aid into Gaza; the establishment of accessible early warning systems in Palestinian Sign Language; the inclusion of deaf persons and their organizations at all levels of emergency response; the rebuilding of schools for deaf persons and the expansion of infrastructure serving deaf persons; and the recognition of deaf-led organizations as key actors in rebuilding and policymaking and their participation in national and international humanitarian coordination mechanisms. The Committee should ensure that the needs and rights of deaf Palestinians were meaningfully reflected in upcoming reports and in all future actions aimed at ensuring justice, freedom and dignity for deaf Palestinians.
44. A resident of Gaza, speaking in a pre-recorded video message, said that she had a condition that made it difficult for her to walk. When her family, which had been already been displaced by the war, had been forced to evacuate on foot, she had become exhausted and had been unable to continue. She had sat down in the road, crying, and had told her family to go on without her. However, her father, mother and sister had refused to do so, and had taken turns to carry her. Since the beginning of the war, she had not received any therapy, and she had lost her foot brace and the medical shoe she had worn previously, causing her condition to worsen. Persons with disabilities in Gaza had the right to live in safety and they demanded access to assistive devices.
45. A representative of Human Rights Watch said that the Committee had just heard the testimony of Ghazal, a 15-year-old girl with cerebral palsy, who had been forced to evacuate without her mobility aids, including her wheelchair, which had been lost in a previous attack on her home in Gaza. Ghazal’s story highlighted the extreme risks faced by children and adults with disabilities in Gaza. While she had managed to flee, other persons with disabilities had not. For example, Bader Mosleh, a 39 year-old man with a visual disability, and a father of three young children, had been killed in an apparent Israeli strike in Gaza on 7 December 2023. Two weeks before his death, he had told Human Rights Watch that there was no safe, accessible place to which he could flee and that he was awaiting his turn to die. Persons with disabilities and their families regularly reported that the Israeli military did not provide advance warnings of attacks, making it harder for them to evacuate and to save their assistive devices.
46. Having documented such cases, Human Rights Watch had released a report providing evidence of why so-called evacuation orders amounted to forced displacement and constituted war crimes and crimes against humanity. In December 2024, it had concluded that the Israeli authorities had intentionally deprived Palestinians of adequate access to water since October 2023, likely resulting in thousands of deaths from malnutrition, dehydration and disease – a policy that amounted to an act of genocide.
47. Thousands of children in Gaza had acquired a disability due to the use by the Israeli military of explosive weapons in densely populated areas. Human Rights Watch had learned of the case of Malik, a 13-year-old boy who had fled with his family from their home in Beit Hanoun, northern Gaza, to the Nuseirat refugee camp. Shortly after arriving at the camp, he had gone with his mother to a local market, where he had been injured in an explosion that had severed his arm. His mother, having grabbed his hand, had been disoriented by the blast. When she had regained full consciousness, she had been holding her son’s arm, but he had been nowhere to be seen.
48. Severe restrictions on humanitarian aid meant the aid workers had little means with which to respond to the specific needs of persons with disabilities. There was evidence that the Israeli authorities had been refusing to allow the delivery of essential items needed by persons with disabilities, including wheelchairs, crutches, hearing aids and medical devices. Early in the hostilities, Human Rights Watch had warned that Israel was using starvation as a method of warfare against civilians in Gaza, which increased the risk of malnutrition and starvation faced by persons with disabilities who required a specific diet. For example, one 16-year-old boy with cerebral palsy, who used a gastrostomy feeding tube, had rapidly lost weight because his family could not obtain the food items he needed and, without electricity, had no easy way to blend the food. In recent weeks, grim images had appeared in the media of persons with disabilities or pre-existing health conditions dying of starvation. Starvation in Gaza was entirely human-made and was having a disproportionate impact on children and adults with disabilities. She called on the Committee to do everything in its power to highlight the situation and to hold Israel accountable.
49. Several doctors working in Gaza had confirmed that the acute medical needs of children with pre-existing disabilities were going unmet owing to the shortage of supplies. They had also reported that the lack of access to healthcare would result either in the deaths of children with disabilities or in their acquiring further disabilities. To make matters worse, the Israeli authorities were preventing medical workers from entering Gaza. An orthopaedic surgeon who had been due to provide crucial treatment to children with disabilities had been denied entry only the day before her planned deployment.
50. In the light of the foregoing, Human Right Watch had formulated several recommendations, which would be provided to the Committee in writing. In particular, it was necessary to put pressure on Israel to abide by the provisional measures that the International Court of Justice had ordered in January 2024 in the case of South Africa v. Israel, recognizing the real and imminent risk of irreparable prejudice to the rights of Palestinians under the Genocide Convention. In that context, the Committee should call for Israel to allow the delivery of the specific resources that persons with disabilities needed to survive. It was also necessary to call on other States to ensure that persons with disabilities were systematically included in humanitarian responses, including through targeted funding. Lastly, it was important to call upon Member States to take persuasive measures, including targeted sanctions and a full arms embargo, to press the Israeli authorities to cease the use of explosive weapons and other serious violations of the laws of war that were destroying the lives of persons with disabilities.
51. A resident of Jenin refugee camp, speaking in a pre-recorded video message, said that he was a displaced person with a visual impairment. When the Israeli army had invaded the camp, he had been terrified, and it had been extremely difficult for him to evacuate. However, it had been necessary to leave his home for the sake of his three children, two of whom had disabilities. Persons with visual impairments lacked rights, and were not offered any cultural or recreational activities. All the members of his family were unemployed and would welcome any form of financial or psychological support to cope with the hardship they faced.
52. Al-Azzeh said that the Committee was grateful to organizations of persons with disabilities, civil society organizations and individuals for their statements. The Committee had strived to include all stakeholders, including representatives of the Government of the State of Palestine and the Governments of neighbouring States, in its consideration of the situation of persons with disabilities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Israel had also been invited to participate but had not confirmed its attendance.
53. Regarding the possibility of an inquiry under article 6 of the Optional Protocol, it was important to be realistic about what could be achieved. As the Committee had received information indicating grave violations of the rights set forth in the Convention, it was certainly entitled to investigate and to visit the territory in question, with the acceptance of the Palestinian authorities. However, it should be understood that Israel, the aggressor State that was perpetrating the violations, was not a Party to the Optional Protocol and therefore could not be bound by it.
54. On the other hand, the Committee was working within the human rights treaty body system and with other United Nations mechanisms to uphold international humanitarian law and international human rights law. Although the United Nations sometimes did not succeed in preventing wars and catastrophes, that did not mean that the international system was inactive. Decisions had been handed down by the International Court of Justice and arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court. The Committee would undoubtedly bear in mind the statements and testimonies it had heard when drafting its report, and would work within its mandate to exert pressure on the occupying Power to end the violations and crimes that were being committed against persons with disabilities.
55. Gabrilli (Country Task Force) said that it would be helpful to know what specific actions the Committee could take to better respond to the systematic problems faced by persons with disabilities living under occupation in Gaza and the West Bank. She would like to better understand the long-term effects of the blockade and humanitarian crisis on children and adults with newly acquired disabilities, particularly with regard to mental health.
56. Boresli (Country Task Force) said that international organizations and the international community as a whole must redouble their efforts to bring about an immediate end to the unjust war in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. It was imperative to urgently establish a priority road map to identify, on the basis of data disaggregated by age group, the needs of persons with disabilities in terms of, for example, the volume of wheelchairs and hearing aids required, and to facilitate access to healthcare and psychosocial rehabilitation services. Israel must comply with its international obligations, in particular under the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. Healthcare personnel and volunteers working with persons with disabilities in areas affected by shelling must be protected. There was a need to document violations committed by the occupation forces against persons with disabilities, including the targeting of rehabilitation centres and denial of access to medicines. The reconstruction of healthcare and educational facilities should take account of universal design standards, and efforts should be made to create economic empowerment and employment opportunities for persons with disabilities, particularly persons who had had a limb amputated, so that they could become self-sufficient. While attempts at international mediation had so far been in vain, she wished to encourage civil society organizations to assist the Committee in continuing its efforts to contribute to bringing an end to the war.
57. Gamio Ríos said that it was undeniable that the response of the United Nations and the international community to the conflict in Gaza had been insufficient. Israel had ignored the two statements issued by the Committee and the rulings of the International Court of Justice. She hoped that the meeting would result in a road map that would shape the Committee’s next steps.
58. Nwanoro said that he was grateful to the representatives of civil society organizations and organizations of persons with disabilities who had shared their accounts of the situation on the ground for persons with disabilities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Urgent action was required to find lasting solutions to end the war and reduce the suffering of persons with disabilities in Gaza.
59. Schefer said that it would be useful to have information about the obligations and responsibilities of Hamas and any potential violations of the Convention that it had committed.
60. Makni (Country Task Force) said that the Committee would be tireless in its efforts to help bring about change and should draw on the expertise, lessons learned and innovative ideas of civil society organizations to better defend the rights of persons with disabilities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
61. A representative of the Independent Commission for Human Rights of the State of Palestine said that urgent protection measures, including accessible humanitarian corridors, must be mandated in Gaza. Deliveries of assistive devices, medical supplies and rehabilitation equipment must immediately be permitted to enter. There was a need for disability-inclusive humanitarian responses and for reconstruction that involved persons with disabilities in decision-making at all levels. Persons with disabilities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory were asking not for charity but for justice, protection and recognition of their dignity, on an equal footing with others.
62. His organization would like the Committee to recognize the situation in Gaza and the West Bank as constituting apartheid and genocide and to hold States accountable under article 11 of the Convention. The Committee had legal and moral obligations and should follow the example of the International Criminal Court, which had decided that, although Israel was not a Party to the Rome Statute, the Court had jurisdiction to rule on the violations being committed inside the State of Palestine, which was a Party. Accordingly, the Committee should establish an investigation mechanism to document and report on violations against persons with disabilities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
63. A representative of QADER for Community Development said that violations of the Convention were being committed in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. It was therefore crucial for the Committee to fulfil its obligations by taking action, under article 6 of the Optional Protocol, to form a fact-finding mission and a commission of inquiry. The outcome of such a commission would shape the work of other bodies and international mechanisms of inquiry. His organization would resubmit five important reports on the situation of persons with disabilities.
64. A representative of Al-Haq said that his organization continued to advocate for the formation of a commission of inquiry that would investigate the situation on the ground in Gaza. International law must apply to all parties to the conflict, including resistance groups and the occupying Power. The Committee should invite civil society organizations to provide it with input under article 11 of the Convention and should hold a dialogue with the State Party that was committing violations of the Convention amounting to serious international crimes. States Parties that breached international law should perhaps be required to withdraw from the Convention.
65. A representative of the Palestinian Disability Coalition said that it was unclear how accountability mechanisms applied to national liberation movements that were not Parties to international conventions. Civil society organizations were unlikely to be in a position to provide significant input on the activities of such movements.
66. Al-Azzeh said that questions about Hamas, which was the de facto authority in Gaza, were legitimate in the context. Accountability mechanisms did not apply solely to States Parties. It would be helpful to learn about any measures Hamas had taken to improve the situation of persons with disabilities in Gaza during the blockade that had been in place before 7 October 2023. It was important to reflect reality and frame the situation in a non‑politicized manner.

The discussion covered in the summary record ended at 5.15 p.m.