Palestinians participated in a wheelchair race during an event on the International Day of Persons with Disabilities in Gaza Thursday.

The United Nations annually recognizes Dec. 3 as International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) Thursday warned that the blockade imposed by the Israeli occupation on Gaza Strip for the past 13 years "significantly impede[s] the daily life of tens of thousands of Palestinians with disabilities."

The senior researcher of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Division at HRW Emina Sirimovich said permanent electricity shortage specifically threatens the rights of persons with disabilities, as they need light to communicate using sign language or electrical devices to move from lifts to electric scooters.

According to the official statistics of the "Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics," there are approximately 48,000 people in Gaza, or 2.4 percent of the population, who have a disability, and more than a fifth of these are children. A UNICEF official said the actual number is much higher. The spokesperson for the Ministry of Social Development said there are approximately 53,000 people living with different forms of disability in Gaza.

HRW said, "People with disabilities in Gaza faced difficulties in obtaining assistive devices, such as wheelchairs and hearing aids, due in large part to Israeli restrictions on imports and the lack of securing the necessary equipment by local authorities and relief teams."

There is also a lack of expertise capable of repairing damaged tools in Gaza. The Israel Occupation is restricting the entry of spare parts and batteries for auxiliaries, according to the Israeli Occupation human rights organization Gisha-Maslak.