Silent struggle: Gaza's deaf population speak volumes amidst war

Amid relentless bombings, where the sounds of explosions overpower everything else, one might assume a camera malfunction.

However, for Mahmoud and Abir Abu Sekran, this has been their reality for 82 days in Gaza. Both deaf, they were forced by the ravages of the Israeli war to flee to Rafah, south of the Strip.

Inside the tents of the Rafah camp, Mahmoud and Abir fight to survive with their children, facing extremely harsh living conditions. Mahmoud, for instance, attempts to cut a tree trunk to later use for cooking – not for warmth, but to prepare whatever food they can manage in water that is hardly fit for consumption in the first place.

Mahmoud and Abir represent just one case among more than 55,000 individuals suffering from hearing, visual, motor, or intellectual disabilities in Gaza, according to the 2022 annual health report in the region.

These disabilities are challenges alone. So, how do they fare amid war, displacement, and destruction?

While Mahmoud and Abir cannot hear, the plight of tens of thousands is evident for the entire international community, a community that seems to have turned a deaf ear to the cries from the Strip.