The European Disability Forum submitted this contribution in response to the Committee’s call for written inputs regarding the implementation of Article 11 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) – situations of risk and humanitarian emergencies – in the context of the war in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT). Our observations are informed by communications with disability activists and organisations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) in Palestine, reports from humanitarian actors, and our sustained advocacy towards the EU to uphold its obligations under the Convention.7
The number of persons with disabilities in OPT has risen sharply due to conflict-related injuries and the collapse of healthcare services. Yet their voices remain marginalised in humanitarian decision-making. This must change.
Key findings
Our exchanges with Palestinian OPDs and humanitarian actors, in particular Human Rights Watch and Disability Justice Palestine Collective, reveal:
- A lack of systematic inclusion of persons with disabilities in humanitarian coordination structures.
- Inaccessible humanitarian aid distribution points and shelters;
- Absence of disability-disaggregated data;
- Disruption of rehabilitation services and assistive technology supply chains;
- Increased psychosocial distress and trauma without adequate mental health support.
Recommendations to the Committee
To all States Parties, including the EU:
- Ensure the safety and protection of persons with disabilities in OPT (obligation under CRPD Article 11).
- Lift the blockade on Gaza to ensure unrestricted access to humanitarian aid, including fuel, special food, medicine, and assistive devices for all people, including people with disabilities.
- Guarantee accessibility of humanitarian aid, evacuation routes, shelters, and medical services.
- Collect and use disability-disaggregated data in humanitarian response.
- Involve Palestinian OPDs as partners in all humanitarian, reconstruction, and rehabilitation efforts.
- Condemn and call for the immediate cessation of the use of starvation of civilians as a method of warfare, which is prohibited under international humanitarian law. States Parties to the CRPD must ensure that persons with disabilities have unimpeded access to adequate food, water, and essential nutrition, including through disability-inclusive humanitarian relief. Any obstruction to food supplies, humanitarian convoys, or livelihoods disproportionately impacts persons with disabilities and constitutes a grave violation of their rights.
- Call for the immediate and unconditional release of all civilians held hostage, in accordance with international humanitarian law, and ensure that any hostages with disabilities receive urgent medical care, assistive devices, and psychosocial support during and after their release. The continued detention of persons with disabilities places them at heightened risk of abuse, neglect, and denial of essential care, constituting a severe violation of their rights under the CRPD.
Download our report to learn about the situation on the ground
Our work in the Middle East and Gaza
EDF advocates for the rights of persons with disabilities in Gaza and the region, providing regular updates to DG ECHO and other EU bodies on the humanitarian situation. We press the EU to show leadership and ensure humanitarian aid is disability-inclusive, accessible, and prioritises those most at risk.
If you want to learn more about our work on the situation, visit our page.
Donation
If you want to help, consider donating to Humanity and Inclusion’s for their work in Gaza.