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Mahmoud Fouad al-Dahshan, a 64-year-old Palestinian from Gaza, is preparing to walk again with a new prosthetic limb after Israeli soldiers confiscated the one he had received during medical treatment in Egypt, Anadolu reported.
Dahshan said soldiers gave him a choice when he returned to Gaza in May: give up his prosthesis or the wheelchair he needed. He chose the wheelchair and entered Gaza without the limb.
“The Israeli army arbitrarily confiscated the prosthetic limb without giving any reason or explaining why it posed a threat to them,” he said.
Support to replace the prosthetic limb
Dahshan was injured in an Israeli bombardment of his family’s home in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood in early November 2023. Doctors amputated his left foot. He later travelled to Egypt for treatment and was fitted with a prosthesis.
He has now begun a new treatment process at the Prosthetics and Orthotics Center affiliated with Gaza Municipality, where technicians have taken measurements for a replacement limb. He said he hoped to walk without relying on a wheelchair and regain some independence.
“I came here hoping to have a new prosthetic limb fitted to replace the one the occupation took from me and to begin a new treatment journey to help me walk and move without needing a wheelchair,” he said, thanking the Turkish Red Crescent for supporting the project.
Saadi Dabour, the Turkish Red Crescent’s director in Gaza, said the initiative aims to help people who have lost limbs regain mobility and manage daily activities. Prosthetic limbs were fitted for 10 people in August and September, and a second phase for 10 more cases is scheduled to begin the following month.
Shortages hinder rehabilitation efforts
Dabour said severe shortages of raw materials and essential components needed to make prosthetic limbs in Gaza were a major obstacle. The center’s director of public relations, Husni Muhanna, said restrictions on bringing supplies into the territory had also affected its work.
Muhanna said more than 6,000 amputations had been recorded during the war in the Sehhaty system affiliated with the Palestinian Health Ministry and the International Committee of the Red Cross. The partnership with the Turkish Red Crescent is expected to provide suitable prostheses to around 20 people in two phases.
At the center, Uday Abu Warda was undergoing physical therapy and walking exercises with a prosthesis provided during the first phase. He said his leg was amputated on Oct. 10, 2023, after an Israeli bombardment.
“Thanks to God and then to the efforts of the Turkish Red Crescent, which provided me with this prosthetic limb. I have returned to life, and here I am carrying out many aspects of my daily life,” Abu Warda said. He added that he could now go out and walk with friends after spending much of his time confined to a tent.
Since Oct. 8, 2023, the war in Gaza has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians and injured over 175,000, while 90% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been destroyed, according to the figures cited in the report.
