‘Israel’ bans wheelchairs, toilet seats from entering Gaza

• ‘Israel’ classifies toilet seats, portable toilets, wheelchairs, tarps and sleeping bags as "dual-use" items, according to Gisha and WAFA. Israel's aid body COGAT says the review is not a blanket ban.
• More than 90 percent of Gaza's population is displaced, and over 90 percent of homes are damaged or destroyed.

‘Israel’ has barred the entry of wheelchairs, toilet seats, tarps, and portable toilets into Gaza, classifying them as "dual-use" items with possible military applications, according to rights groups and Palestinian media. 

The ‘Israeli’ rights group Gisha says ‘Israel’ has classified items including flashlights, non-electric wheelchairs, tarps, sleeping bags and portable toilets as dual-use since Oct. 7, 2023. 

Wheelchairs

The need for mobility equipment has grown sharply with the number of people injured in the war. The World Health Organization's figures, cited by the charity Humanity & Inclusion, put the number of people in Gaza with life-changing injuries at nearly 42,000, one in four of them children. 

WHO estimated in December 2025 that nearly 33,000 assistive products and technologies were needed. More than 12,000 mobility products were distributed between January 2025 and May 2026, covering about one third of the identified need.

According to WHO, no rehabilitation equipment for health facilities entered Gaza between May 2024 and mid-April 2026, and as of mid-April 18 shipments of rehabilitation supplies were awaiting clearance after waits of 130 to 520 days so far. 

The pending items include wheelchairs for adults and children, prosthetic limbs and basic rehabilitation equipment. UNRWA said in August 2025 that over 83 percent of people with disabilities in Gaza lacked the assistive devices they need, including wheelchairs and hearing aids.

Toilets

More than nine in ten Palestinians in Gaza are displaced, and over 90 percent of homes have been damaged or destroyed, according to Al Jazeera, driving a sharp rise in demand for portable toilets. A used toilet seat costs between 1,500 and 2,000 shekels, roughly $600.

Some residents cut holes in plastic chairs placed over sand, and a single communal toilet is often shared by 20 or 25 people

A UN humanitarian office (OCHA) assessment found that only half of surveyed people in Gaza had access to basic sanitation, and about 60 percent lived within 10 metres of wastewater or human waste. A doctor at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah said the emergency department sees recurring cases of diarrhoea, skin disease and gastrointestinal problems among children, women and older people, many linked to conditions in the tents. 

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