The use of explosive weapons in Gaza has caused widespread suffering. Bombings have not only killed civilians, but left many with life-changing injuries, devastating losses, and repeated displacement. The testimonies of civilians underscore the human impact of these weapons and provides an unfiltered perspective of life under bombardment. They also stress the urgency of states implementing frameworks such as the Political Declaration to protect civilians and prevent the normalisation of harm caused by the bombing and shelling of populated areas.
Introduction
Over a year since Israel’s military response to attacks by Hamas and other Palestinian groups in southern Israel in October 2023, civilians have suffered from extensive aerial bombardments and a ground invasion of northern Gaza unleashing a humanitarian catastrophe of unprecedented scale.1
As of 31 January 2025, Israel’s military campaign in Gaza has reportedly resulted in the death of at least 47,000 Palestinians, with at least 111,000 injured, as reported by the Ministry of Health (MoH) in Gaza, which does not differentiate between civilian and combatant casualties. Nearly 1.9 million Palestinians have been displaced and over 70,000 housing units have been destroyed, permanently impacting Gaza’s infrastructure.2 The humanitarian impact has reached dire levels.
The prolonged use of explosive weapons in densely populated areas in Gaza is a stark illustration of the humanitarian consequences of urban warfare. Nowhere is this clearer than in testimonies from affected communities and survivors who live with both the direct and reverberating impacts of this conflict, including life-changing injuries, the loss of family members and recurring displacement.
This article explores these impacts through the voices of Gazans. Civilians’ experiences show the importance of strengthening international standards for protecting civilians from the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. This can be achieved through implementation of the Political Declaration on Strengthening the Protection of Civilians from the Humanitarian Consequences Arising from the Use of Explosive Weapons in Populated Areas.3
Civilian Testimonies from the Ground
Gathering and sharing data on the direct and reverberating effects of explosive weapons in populated areas are essential for understanding their devastating impact on civilians. While this includes data on the direct effects of explosive weapons, it should also include data collection and research that captures qualitative information and provides greater context to the broad range of impacts that quantitative data along cannot. As experiences of affected communities vary across contexts and change over time, this qualitative research is important in understanding the nuanced impacts of the use of explosive weapons.4
Testimonies and perspectives of the civilian experience in Gaza provide this crucial insight. They illustrate the impact of armed conflict in urban settings, showing an unfiltered account of life on the ground amidst bombing and shelling. These personal accounts underscore the reality behind the statements from various United Nations representatives who have repeatedly described Gaza as a "living hell."5
The testimonials below are drawn from existing fieldwork and local programmes conducted by member organisations of the International Network on Explosive Weapons (INEW). Many of these organisations operate directly in affected communities, documenting impact from explosive weapons use, collecting data and assisting the victims of explosive weapons. Each testimony serves to illustrate the impacts of the use of explosive weapons in populated areas on civilians in Gaza. While only three testimonies are shared here, there are thousands more stories from affected communities in Gaza and in other conflicts across the globe.
Shahad, 23, Gaza City - Life-Changing Injuries
Shahad was 23 years old when a munition struck her apartment building in Gaza City. She shared with Human Rights Watch that she was seven months pregnant and sitting with her husband, Ali, watching a video on her phone. She recalls the moment of impact saying:
“Suddenly something strong hit me. Everything became black and I felt like I was flying. I was catapulted. Then I stopped moving, and I saw the sky and the street and rubble everywhere. I was lying in the middle of the street. I screamed ‘Ali, where are you?’ He heard me and shouted ‘Shahad.’”6
The explosion severely injured both of them. Shahad lost her left leg, and Ali lost both legs and his left arm. Shahad recalled that Ali, still conscious, looked at his body and repeatedly asked, “where is my hand, where is my hand?”
Both were transported to Shifa Hospital, where Shahad and Ali were separated. She miscarried as a result of the attack and had at least 10 surgeries addressing multiple fractures and burns during two months at the hospital before Israeli forces forced patients out and occupied the hospital, according to Human Rights Watch. Due to shortages at the hospital, she underwent all her treatments without painkillers.
Explosive weapons use in Gaza has caused severe injuries like those seen in other intense conflicts such as Yemen, Syria and Iraq. In such contexts, injuries often involve damage to or loss of one or more limbs, as experienced by Shahad and Ali. Injured civilians in Gaza often arrive at hospitals with multiple severe injuries that can be extremely hard or even impossible to treat. Medical care and painkillers are often unavailable, causing unnecessary suffering and leading to avoidable long-term disabilities, which can be deeply traumatic.7
Rami, 7, Nuseirat - Multiple Fatalities
Rami, a seven year old child, was sheltering in a house with his family in Nuseirat, Central Gaza, when a bomb struck. Five members of his extended family were killed immediately. Rami told Save the Children how he suffered injuries to his head and leg.8
His father, Jamal suffered head, arm, and leg injuries. His mother, Heba, sustained injuries to her ankle and shoulder. His 10-year-old sister Sana suffered burns along the left side of her body, and his 12-year-old sister Samira sustained shrapnel wounds across her body. They went to receive treatment at a hospital in Gaza and Rami recalls receiving 40-50 stitches on his face and head without any anaesthetic.
Children are uniquely affected by explosive weapons as they face distinct vulnerabilities. A Save the Children report on blast injuries details, “if children survive explosive weapons, they often find themselves dealing not only with physical trauma and disability, but with the loss of family members, the destruction of their homes, and the disruption of their education – and with it their future prospects.”9
Shaima, 33, Tal al-Sultan Refugee Camp - Finding Shelter in Schools
Shaima, 33-years-old, was five months pregnant when the war began. She told Human Rights Watch that, like many other civilians in Gaza, she fled her home following the events of 7 October 2023, to seek shelter in a safer location.10 For 120 days, she took refuge in a school in the Tal al-Sultan refugee camp. Shaima shared a classroom with at least 50 other people. The school in its entirety housed thousands of people, and only one bathroom was available for everyone.
During those 120 days, she was unable to wash herself. A vehicle with a tank of non-potable water would arrive every 4-5 days. This was often the only available water, and many, including herself, suffered from diarrhoea and vomiting as a result. Throughout her pregnancy, Shaima survived mostly on cheese, tuna, and other canned goods.
In the final month of her pregnancy, she returned to her home in Rafah for one night. In the early hours of the morning, her apartment building was struck without warning. The attack killed her husband and two children, a 16-year-old son and an 11-year-old daughter. She was critically injured, suffering severe burns and fractures to her legs, feet, and abdomen. Her father rescued her and took her to a hospital, where she waited for another three hours before surgery. She recalled feeling her child move in her stomach for two days after the attack, but on the third day, movement ceased.
“I had been begging the doctors to do a cesarean to get my baby out but because of my state and loss of blood they said no. Then the baby stopped moving. They made me give birth naturally.” 11
It is estimated that approximately one million Palestinians, half of whom are children, are currently living in formal or informal shelters, including schools, in the Gaza Strip after being displaced from their homes by Israeli forces. Displaced families consequently live in severe poverty without adequate hygiene facilities. Restricted access to clean water, exacerbated by fuel shortages imposed by Israeli restrictions, has contributed to the spread of diseases. With scarce access to safe drinking water, many are forced to consume non-potable water, increasing health risks in the overcrowded shelters.12
A Framework for Mitigating Harm
Bombing and shelling in urban settings has caused extensive harm to civilians in Gaza, leaving entire communities devastated by the humanitarian consequences of the use of explosive weapons. Civilian testimonies, like the ones above, are essential in documenting these consequences and for providing an evidential basis for the development of new military policies and practices that strengthen the protection of civilians in Gaza and in conflicts across the globe.
The Political Declaration provides such a framework for mitigating civilian harm. It recognises the unacceptable risks to civilians posed by the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, promotes stronger standards for the protection of civilians, and it commits states who endorse the Declaration to implement these standards through changes to their military policy and practice.
Moreover, the Political Declaration provides an opportunity to limit the humanitarian consequences of warfare in urban environments, where civilian harm need not be inevitable. Implementation of its commitments can safeguard civilians and ensure that urban spaces are not subjected to the widespread consequences of explosive weapons use in military operations.