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Report: 255,000 Palestinians suffer permanent disabilities

December 4, 2018 at 11:39 am

Palestinian amputees have come together to form Gaza’s first football squad of people with disabilities [Mohammed Asad/Middle East Monitor]

More than 255,000 Palestinians in West Bank and Gaza Strip suffer from permanent disabilities, a report issued by the Palestinian Bureau of Statistics (PBS) revealed yesterday.

Published on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the PBS report reveals that 5.8 per cent of the population is living with disability; 127,000 in the occupied West Bank and 128,000 in the Gaza Strip.

The report showed that the number of the disabled Palestinians had increased in the last ten years from 4.7 per cent of the population; 5.3 per cent in West Bank and 3.7 per cent in Gaza in 2007.

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In addition, the report said that 2.9 per cent of the Palestinians have disabilities which restrict their movement while 2.6 per cent have limitations relating to their sight.

Unemployment rates amongst those with disability have also increased since 2007 when they stood at 24 per cent compared to 37 per cent in 2017, the report added.

International medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF, Doctors Without Borders) warned last week that more than 1,000 Gazans shot by Israel are at risk of infection, which could lead to permanent disabilities or death.