New Delhi: The fact that the destruction in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war particularly hits hard its disabled population is one the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD) has spotlighted in a statement expressing support for Palestinians and those “who act in resistance and solidarity” with them.“Palestinians with disabilities are at the epicentre” of the violence wreaked in Gaza by Israel’s military campaign, in the wake of which the beleaguered coastal strip has reportedly come to have the highest number of child amputees per capita, said the statement dated June 10.“This [by] no stretch of imagination can be categorised as collateral damage,” added the NPRD, whose statement has also been endorsed by a number of other organisations and individuals.It continued: “Food systems have been destroyed. Hospitals have been bombed. Clean water and medicine are cut off. Disease is rampant. Mobility aids are destroyed, and medical care is denied. The physical and psychological toll is immeasurable – and disabled Palestinians suffer it most.”Early into the Israel-Hamas war, the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimated that people with disabilities made up over 15% of those displaced at the time, i.e. November 1, 2023.“As a disability justice movement, we declare: There is no disability justice without decolonisation. There is no accessibility under apartheid. There is no liberation in systems built to destroy,” said the statement, which alleged that Israel’s actions in Gaza amount to genocide. Palestinians and others have accused Israel’s policies in Palestine of constituting colonialism and apartheid.The statement also expressed solidarity with those aboard the small vessel Madleen, which attempted to carry humanitarian aid to Gaza in defiance of Israel’s naval blockade of the strip but was stopped by Israeli forces on Monday, and among whose passengers were activist Greta Thunberg.“This blatant act of piracy [Israel’s seizing the Madleen] is part of a broader strategy: to starve, isolate and eliminate Palestinian resistance through siege and destruction,” it charged.The statement also demanded an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, an “end to the genocidal blockade” on the strip as well as “full international accountability for war crimes, including those violating the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities”.The text of the statement and its signatories is appended at the end of this article.Israel is conducting a military campaign in Gaza which per the latter’s health ministry has killed over 54,800 Palestinians. It does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in the death toll.Its campaign began in response to Hamas’s terror attack in Israel on October 7, 2023 that killed 1,200 people, including over 800 Israeli citizens. The Palestinian group, which governs Gaza and has a military wing, also took around 250 people hostage into the strip.§Joint statement by disability rights organisations/individuals and other organisations/individuals demanding an end to the Genocide in Gaza.Stop the Genocide in Gaza:Solidarity with Palestinians and the Fight for Disability JusticeWe, the undersigned organisations and individuals, express our unequivocal solidarity with the Palestinian people enduring genocide — and with all those across the world who act in resistance and solidarity, including Greta Thunberg, Rima Hassan, Liam Cunningham, Ann Wright and others intercepted and detained by Israeli forces while attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.On June 1, 2025, twelve international activists began their journey aboard the Madleen, a British-flagged sailboat organised by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, carrying essential aid – baby formula, flour, medical supplies and desalination equipment – to Gaza’s besieged population. The vessel was intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters on June 8, the aid seized and the activists kidnapped. This blatant act of piracy is part of a broader strategy: to starve, isolate and eliminate Palestinian resistance through siege and destruction.What is happening in Gaza is not a war – it is a genocide. Backed by Western imperial powers, Israel is carrying out the calculated destruction of an entire people through relentless bombardment, blockade, deprivation and starvation.Palestinians with disabilities are at the epicentre of this violence. Over 15% of Gaza’s population lived with disabilities before this current wave of genocide. That number is rising rapidly due to Israel’s use of high-impact explosives, chemical weapons and systematic destruction of infrastructure – leaving behind mass trauma, injury and the highest rate of child amputees in the world. This [by] no stretch of imagination can be categorised as collateral damage.Food systems have been destroyed. Hospitals have been bombed. Clean water and medicine are cut off. Disease is rampant. Mobility aids are destroyed, and medical care is denied. The physical and psychological toll is immeasurable – and disabled Palestinians suffer it most.Meanwhile, those who stand up in solidarity including the likes of Greta Thunberg, an autistic and neurodivergent activist are met with arrest and repression. Their detention is meant as a threat: to silence dissent and punish resistance. We reject that threat entirely.As a disability justice movement, we declare:There is no disability justice without decolonisation.There is no accessibility under apartheid.There is no liberation in systems built to destroy.We demand: The immediate release of all political prisoners detained for solidarity with Palestine. An immediate and unconditional ceasefire. An end to the genocidal blockade on Gaza. Full international accountability for war crimes, including those violating the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The dismantling of settler-colonial and imperialist systems that uphold this violence.Disability justice demands nothing less than the complete end of apartheid, genocide and settler-colonial violence.For over 75 years, Palestinians have resisted with unwavering courage. Our liberation is inseparable from theirs. We reject all reformist calls to “improve” or “include” within structures of death and oppression.We stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people and all oppressed communities resisting imperialism, colonialism and capitalism.From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be FreePrepared by: National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled (NPRD)Endorsements from Disability Rights Organisations & Individuals:Paschimbanga Rajya Pratibandhi SammilaniVikalangalu Hakkulu Jatiya Vedike, TelanganaDifferently Abled Welfare Federation, KeralaTamilnadu Association for the Rights of All Types of Differently Abled & CaregiversHaryana Viklang Adhikar ManchMadhya Pradesh Viklang Adhikar ManchDelhi Viklang Adhikar ManchTripura Pratibandhi Adhikar ManchaKarnataka State Disabled & Caregivers FederationVikalangalu Hakkulu Jatiya Vedike, Andhra PradeshShampa Sengupta, Sruti Disability Rights CentreShashank Pandey, Politics and Disability ForumAbhirupa Kar, Civilian Welfare FoundationDanish Mahajan, Udaan Empowerment TrustAmita Dhanda, Professor Emerita, Head Centre for Disability Studies and Centre for Legal Philosophy and Justice Education NALSARVijay Tiwari, West Bengal National University of Juridicial StudiesRavi Ganesan, Disability Rights Activist, BengaluruNilesh Singit, Disability Rights ActivistSrinidhi, Educator & Researcher, IndiaAdvocate Anchal Bhatheja, New DelhiRashmi, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, MumbaiLina Pegu, Doctoral candidate, TISS, MaharashtraAmar Pawar, Disability Studies Scholar, IndiaEkramul HaqueMona Yadav, Sahas Foundation, DelhiPuri Yadav, Sahas Foundation, DelhiJeeja Ghosh, Disability Rights ActivistEndorsements from Other Organisations & Individuals:All India Democratic Women’s Association (AIDWA)Nisha Siddhu, Gen. Secy, National Federation of Indian WomenAll India Kisan Sabha (AIKS)Meera Sanghamitra (National Alliance of People’s Movements – NAPM), HyderabadSudhanya Roy ChowdhuryMahasweta SamajdarDipanwitaHanoz Master, Head Sales Vibescapes, Thane, MaharashtraStudents’ Federation of India