10/01/2026
In Gaza, the war is creating a new generation of deaf children
A report published on Le Monde in English
By Marie Jo Sader
According to a survey by Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children, 35,000 children and adults have partially or completely lost their hearing during the two years of war.
No one in the Abou Amro family knows sign language. To communicate with 12-year-old Dana, who has become deaf, her desperate parents have resorted to shouting. Only Alina, her 4-year-old little sister, has managed to connect with her by speaking directly into her ear. "Alina has become our interpreter. Otherwise, we have no way of understanding Dana's needs. It is a tremendous suffering," said their father, Ziad, age 52, reached by phone. Israel still bans journalists from entering the Gaza Strip.
Dana was not born deaf. In early September, she was resting in her room in Gaza City when the building just across from hers was hit by Israeli missiles. "The explosion was extremely violent, the door to her room was torn off and the windows were blown out," her father recounted.
The young girl survived, but in the days that followed, her family noticed a change in her behavior: Dana no longer reacted as before, no longer understood when she was spoken to. Her parents took her to consult specialists from the Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children, a pioneering organization that has operated in Gaza since 1992 and whose 132 employees have not stopped working, despite the destruction of the group's main center in the enclave. "Because of the power of the explosion, the auditory nerve was severely damaged, perhaps even completely destroyed. Dana is suffering from a very severe hearing loss," they explained.
'Most often irreversible disorders'
According to a survey conducted by Atfaluna over the past two years, 35,000 children and adults have become partially or completely deaf as a result of Israeli bombings. "Hearing loss can result from injuries to the head or neck, brain trauma causing ruptured eardrums and damage to the auditory system. But it can also be caused by exposure to sound waves, even if a person was not physically injured. These hearing disorders are, most often, irreversible," explained Dr. Ramadan Hussein, an audiologist working with the organization.
Little Ayan Al-Qara was just 5 days old when an Israeli missile struck one meter from the tent his family had set up in the middle of the night. The baby was thrown and buried under the sand. "We found him thanks to his feet sticking out. He was in a terrible state; we thought he was going to die," his mother, Safa Al-Qara, also reached by phone, recounted. She had been forced to relocate the day after giving birth in May to the coastal area of Al-Mawassi, in Khan Yunis, after an Israeli ground offensive in the eastern part of the city.
The baby survived. But four months after his birth, his mother noticed something was wrong with his behavior. "Only movement got his attention, not sounds. When I played children's songs on the phone, he reacted. As soon as I hid the screen, he stopped responding. I did the test several times and understood that something was wrong," said Al-Qara.
'Devices blocked outside the enclave'
The diagnosis was given: Ayan's hearing level is zero. The child urgently needs a hearing aid, or even a cochlear implant, to avoid severe developmental delays. But, as with Dana's family, Ayan's family faces the impossibility of getting one. The entry of some medical equipment and medicine remains blocked due to restrictions imposed by Israel, especially on items deemed to have "dual use," both civilian and military. The aid that is currently allowed into Gaza is mostly food.
"For nearly a year, not a single hearing aid has entered the Gaza Strip. And even those who already have them will soon be unable to use them, because batteries are also banned," warned Dr. Hussein. Shortages are only part of the problem. Diagnostic tools, laboratories to make custom ear molds, operating rooms: Much of the infrastructure needed to treat hearing disorders has been destroyed by Israel's ground offensive. Many specialists in these conditions also left the enclave in the first months of the war, when the Rafah border crossing at the southern tip of the territory was still open.
"The situation risks getting even worse because of the dense conditions, lack of hygiene in displacement camps, malnutrition and the absence of primary care. Even minor infections, like ear infections, can cause permanent hearing loss if not treated in time," warned Fady Abed, the director of Atfaluna. "Forced displacements, continuous bombings, famine and the lack of medicine affect pregnant women and fetuses and can lead to the birth of children with disabilities, including hearing loss," added Dr. Hussein. Without proper devices, this new generation of children with hearing impairments can no longer participate in school activities or receive psychosocial support.
Picture Credit: Basem Al-Habel, a Palestinian influencer who is hard of hearing, turned to social media to document the war in Gaza using sign language, Gaza, August 5, 2025. EBRAHIM HAJJAJ / REUTERS
