Background: The intensification of Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip, Palestine since 2023 caused a surge in the number of persons requiring rehabilitation services. The Gaza Strip now has the highest number of pediatric amputees per capita globally. The ongoing violence and siege have decimated the healthcare system and severely affected its ability to respond to acute injuries and manage chronic conditions like diabetes leading to preventable amputations. Despite consistent reporting by organizations on the ground, no comprehensive review has summarized the current status of rehabilitation needs and services within Gaza.

Methods: We analyzed peer-reviewed and gray literature to identify the status of rehabilitation needs and services in Gaza from 2018-present. We gathered information on the delivery and availability of rehabilitation services, incidence and prevalence of relevant injuries, and health and social needs of patients. Search terms included rehabilitation services, prosthetic care, orthotic care, amputation, assistive technology, assistive devices, and disability care.

Results: As of February 2025, the World Health Organization documented 111,633 injuries in Gaza, 25% of which are estimated to require ongoing rehabilitation care due to minor injuries, major extremity injuries, or limb loss. Service delivery across hospitals and trauma centers, inpatient rehabilitation units, prosthetic & orthotic centers, and rehabilitation clinics has been severely disrupted by ongoing violence against health facilities and healthcare workers. Lack of medical equipment and supplies is a critical barrier to care for 70%-100% of services. Additionally, at least 1,060 healthcare workers - and at least 42 from the rehabilitation sector - have been killed as of September 2024.

Discussion: Our findings reveal a rehabilitation sector that has been severely debilitated, though trying valiantly to respond to the needs of injured persons. There is an urgent need to shine the spotlight on this preventable destruction and to identify gaps in research data, in order to support the restoration and protection of a strong, sustainable, and locally-operated rehabilitation sector in Gaza. A public health approach to managing these needs is critical, as it calls for attention to the social, economic, and structural determinants of health, in addition to acute and chronic healthcare needs.