Two Palestinian boys lie next to each other at al-Wafa medical rehabilitation hospital in Gaza.
Their mother, Aya Abu Auda, speaks to them softly, but neither child reacts.
The brothers, Elias Abu al-Jibeen, 5, and Ismail Abu al-Jibeen, 8, were wounded during Israeli bombardment on their displacement camp in Gaza City’s Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood on 31 August.
The attack left Elias completely deaf and Ismail with severe hearing loss.
Just a year earlier, Abu Auda had fled her home in northern Gaza after Israeli missiles flattened it and killed her husband.
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“I thought my children and I had survived the worst,” she told Middle East Eye. “I didn’t know the pain would follow us even after displacement.”
Inside the makeshift tent where she slept with her children, shrapnel tore through their bodies.
Ismail lost an eye, movement in one arm and leg, and much of his hearing.
His mother noticed weeks later that he no longer responded to her voice.
A brainstem auditory test showed he had lost 50 percent of the hearing in his right ear and 71 percent in his left.
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Elias’ condition is even more severe.
“Elias was in a coma for 18 days. When he woke up, he couldn’t hear, see, understand or move,” she said, her voice breaking.
“Doctors found pus had accumulated around his brain. A surgical procedure removed it, allowing him to regain limited sensory awareness.”
Elias now lives with paralysis on one side of his body, severe speech and vision impairment, and complete hearing loss in one ear. His other ear requires treatment that is currently unavailable in Gaza due to Israel’s blockade and systematic destruction of hospitals.
“Most of the time, he screams. I try to guess what he needs, but I often fail,” Abu Auda continued.
“I have searched everywhere for hearing aids for both boys, but there is simply nothing available.”
Even after the ceasefire agreement last month, the healthcare system in Gaza has remained in crisis under Israel’s blockade, with around only 50 percent of hospitals partially functional, chronic shortages of medicines and equipment, and 229 essential drugs completely unavailable, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
‘The sound ripped through my ears’
Sanaa Bahr also suffers from hearing loss after being exposed to Israeli air strikes and explosive-laden vehicles during displacement.
The 40-year-old mother told MEE she fled her home in November 2023 with her sister and sought refuge near al-Quds hospital in southwest Gaza City.
“Suddenly, F-16 jets carpet-bombed the street,” she recalled.
“The red flames entered the room. The sound ripped through my ears and took part of my hearing.”
She searched for treatment, but nearly all audiology specialists had been displaced to southern Gaza and most clinics had been destroyed.
“I tried to live with it,” she added. “But the bombardment didn’t stop.”
Months later, when she returned to the same area, an explosive vehicle detonated nearby.
‘My daughters talk to me, and I cannot hear them’
– Sanaa Bahr, Palestinian mother
“I found myself thrown 3m away. The door collapsed on top of me. The explosion felt like it tore my ears from my head,” she said.
Bahr now lives with severe pain, constant ringing in both ears and deep psychological distress.
“My daughters talk to me, and I cannot hear them. They must sit close and raise their voices,” she added.
Explosive-laden vehicles are decommissioned armoured personnel carriers (APCs) packed with explosives and remotely operated by Israeli forces.
They are driven into densely populated urban areas before being detonated, producing blasts powerful enough to destroy around 20 homes at once and causing severe civilian casualties.
In Gaza, they are commonly referred to as “booby-trapped robots”, while the Israeli military calls them “suicide APCs”.
‘Massive auditory damage’
Yusra Basil, an audiology specialist at the health ministry, confirms that months of heavy bombardment, particularly from F-16 missiles and explosive vehicles, have caused “massive auditory damage” across the population.
“These blasts destroy neural cells and the auditory nerve in many cases,” Basil told MEE.
“In others, they rupture the eardrum or damage the middle ear bones, leading to partial or total hearing loss accompanied by constant tinnitus.”
Basil estimates that four in every 10 injuries during the two-year Israeli genocide involve some form of hearing impairment.
Israel has killed around 70,000 Palestinians and wounded more than 170,000 in two years.
Israel’s destruction of rehabilitation centres and the displacement or killing of trained staff has created a severe shortage of medical and audiology equipment, Basil explained.
“Gaza lacks all treatment options for severe hearing loss, including cochlear implants, hearing aids, specialised batteries and medical devices for hearing rehabilitation – all are blocked from entering the strip due to Israel’s closure of border crossings,” she said.
A field survey covering the period of Israel’s war from 2023 to 2025 by Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children found that 35,000 children and adults have lost hearing temporarily, partially or permanently as a direct result of explosions caused by Israeli F-16 strikes and explosive vehicles.
‘Without urgent treatment, many cases of partial or temporary hearing loss may become permanent’
– Fadi Abed, Atfaluna society director
“That’s three times higher than pre-war levels,” Fadi Abed, director of Atfaluna Society, told MEE.
“Without urgent treatment, many cases of partial or temporary hearing loss may become permanent, particularly as overcrowded displacement shelters, lack of primary healthcare, poor nutrition and widespread infections – including middle ear infections – are worsening hearing problems, especially among children.”
Infants and toddlers under two are at the highest risk, followed by children under 12, he said.
“Hearing at that age is essential for developing speech and language. Losing it creates lifelong barriers to communication and development.
“Israel’s blockade and destruction of institutions serving people with hearing disabilities has further deepened the crisis.”
Atfaluna itself was destroyed, while 83 percent of people with disabilities in Gaza have lost access to essential mobility and hearing tools, including wheelchairs, crutches and hearing aids.
“They can no longer access psychosocial support, education or any basic services,” Abed explained.
His organisation has tried, since the beginning of the war, to secure hearing equipment from international agencies.
“But Israel blocks almost everything, allowing in only minimal quantities.”
