New Gaza camp offers relief for Palestinians with disabilities amid war

By Hatem Khaled and Mohammed Salem

GAZA (Reuters) - A newly opened camp for displaced Palestinians with disabilities is providing some much needed help for around 100 vulnerable people in the town of Deir al-Balah in the central area of the war-ravaged Gaza Strip.

The "Smile of Hope Camp" is managed by the Palestinian Red Crescent and is the first in Gaza that tries to provide care and facilities for people with disabilities, but like other centres for the displaced across the enclave it is hampered by a lack of funds and supplies.

And the number of people requiring special help after losing limbs, their eyesight, hearing or other abilities due to the impact of the war is constantly increasing.

"We were able to provide a small part of their needs, but people with disabilities and the new numbers of people with disabilities still need more services and needs," said Noha Al Sherif, the camp's supervisor.

"In this camp we have tried as much as possible to include not only the disabled but also their families in order to create a social and family environment..."

Nearby several people sit quietly in wheelchairs. A man leans on his crutches, while a deaf father and his son communicate through sign language.

"Even in normal circumstances people with disabilities faced many obstacles and great challenges, let alone in these harsh circumstances that all of Palestinian society now faces," said camp resident Mohamed Abu Kamil, who uses a wheelchair.

"The difficulties are big, the lack of provision of needs, the inability to move, the inability to access health facilities and medical care."

Israel says it goes to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties.

Another camp resident, Hussam Sadodeh, said he was grateful for the bathroom facilities available at "Smile of Hope".

"Of course, for those of us born with disabilities, the worst thing we suffered from before we came to this camp was the lack of a proper bathroom for disabled people," he said.

Most of Gaza's 2.3 million people has been displaced by the 10-month conflict and has been forced to keep moving around the enclave to escape the fighting and heavy bombardment, with still no end in sight.

Israeli strikes have killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians and wounded almost 92,000, according to Gaza health authorities.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas that has run Gaza triggered the war when it burst into southern Israel on Oct. 7 last year, killing 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

(Reporting by Hatem Khaled and Mohammed Salem, writing by Nayera Abdallah, editing by Michael Georgy and Gareth Jones)