Fifteen Handicap International teams are deployed throughout Gaza to seek out people with disabilities and injuries and meet their most pressing needs. Samah Abu Lamzy, Handicap International’s project manager in the Gaza Strip, explains the problems facing the families we meet in the field.

The recent three-day ceasefire in Gaza allowed Handicap International and its partners to initiate essential relief operations. In a phone interview on August 8, Samah Abu Lamzy, project manager for Handicap International in Gaza, described what they were able to accomplish during this brief respite in fighting.

We need your help to bring aid and care to the injured and disabled in Gaza. Now, thanks to a generous donor, any gift you make through September 15, will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $250,000.

Yahia J. Elziq, a technical advisor for Handicap International in Ramallah, Palestinian territories, wrote this story for UNICEF’s 2013 State of the World’s Children report, which focused on children with disabilities. An excerpt follows:

Humanity & Inclusion in the Palestinian Territories

Our team has been present in the Palestinian Territories since 1996, working to improve the daily lives of people living in situations of extreme vulnerability.

Faced with an ongoing crisis with Israel and a long-standing blockade in Gaza, the Palestinian people, including people with disabilities, struggle to meet their basic needs. The already precarious socio-economic situation heavily deteriorated since the Covid-19 pandemic. Due to lack of employment opportunities and restrictions on the movement of goods and people, the unemployment rate has skyrocketed.

In Gaza, resurgences of violence in 2018-2019 and in May 2021 have led to further isolation, with increasing difficulties to access care and employment opportunities.

People with disabilities are often overlooked and lack proper representation in development and relief efforts. They also face discrimination at every level of society, in particular in the areas of education and employment.

Areas of Intervention

• Physical rehabilitation, prosthetics and orthotics
• Fighting discrimination against people with disabilities 
• Social inclusion
• Inclusive education

Humanity & Inclusion's 32-person team is working to improve access to basic services including rehabilitation and psychosocial support for people with disabilities. Humanity & Inclusion supports the inclusion of children with disabilities in schools. The organization also leads a program to better include people with disabilities in the contingency plans in case of crisis. 

Teams also support low-income households, in which a person with disabilities live, through temporary food assistance and sustainable economic recovery in response to the Covid-19 crisis. 

Following violence in May 2021, Humanity & Inclusion coordinated summer recreational activities for children, including children with disabilities, providing psychosocial support and risk education messages.

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Our Past Work

Our team has been in the Palestinian Territories since 1996, fostering a culture of dignity, access, and inclusion for ALL people with disabilities and those living in vulnerable circumstances. Over time, we have evolved our work to meet the dynamic needs of the communities where we serve.  

Rehabilitation

In collaboration with its local partners, Humanity & Inclusion provided rehabilitation services to people affected by 2014.

Our team in the Palestinian Territories:

1. Organized 28,000 rehabilitation sessions for more than 4,800 people
2. Distributed 2,500 mobility aids and 4,000 non-food items

The organization also operates a project to improve the care of children with cerebral palsy in the Palestinian Territories. 

Mine Risk Education

In 1999, Humanity & Inclusion launched an education initiative on the risks of anti-personnel landmines and other explosive remnants of war.

Since March 2015, the organization has delivered more than 700 risk education sessions to more than 5,000 adults and children.

The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that came into effect on Wednesday, November 21, brought an end to more than a week of airstrikes.