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Fadel Al Najji used to be a dedicated soccer
player, but now the 14 year old is largely

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confined to his home in Gaza City. Both of his
legs were severed in an Israeli drone attack in

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September. His mother, Najwa Al Naji, says her
son has changed since the injury.

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My son Fidel is not like he used to be. He has
become withdrawn and isolated from people. He

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doesn't like to see anyone, doesn't talk to
his friends, and is always sitting alone. It is

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as if he is dying slowly, and I wish that they
would fit them with prosthetic limbs for Fidel

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and a cosmetic artificial eye for Amir so that
they can go back to living their lives like

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before and integrate with society. A quarter
of Gaza's nearly 5000

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war amputees are children like Al Najji.
Prosthetic limbs are in scarce supply because

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of Israeli restrictions on materials like
plaster of Paris, seven aid and medical sources

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told Reuters. Two medical centers said they
were trying to reuse old prosthetic limbs

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recovered from people killed in the war.
Others are creating makeshift artificial limbs

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with plastic piping or wooden planks, medics
said, though this risks damaging the stump or

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causing infection. The International Committee
of the Red Cross says imports of plaster of

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Paris have been almost completely restricted
for over 4 months, with only enough supplies

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left to last until June or July. Other Gazan
amputees also told Reuters they are

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struggling to resume their pre-war lives
without prostheses. Some of them, including

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Hazem Fura, are on a waiting list and may have
undergone preparatory work. The 40-year-old is

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unable to work since losing his left leg above
the knee in December 2024 when he says Israel

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bombed his house. I am not asking for the
luxuries of life. I am asking for a limb so I

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regain my humanity, to regain the life I was
living to a certain extent. Israel cites

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security concerns as the reason for
restrictions. Lack of prostheses severely

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disrupts recovery and prolongs trauma for
amputees, many of whom might have avoided limb

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loss had more specialist surgeons been
available. It also puts them in greater danger

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from ongoing Israeli attacks, which
Palestinian health officials say have killed

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750 Palestinians since the ceasefire.