UN-backed experts say more must be done to help people with disabilities in war-battered Gaza

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GENEVA (AP) — A team of human rights experts has faulted the world’s nations for not doing more to ensure minimum protections of people with disabilities in Gaza, whose numbers have been growing since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war nearly two years ago.

The U.N.’s Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities published a report Wednesday focusing on some 90,000 people in Gaza. It was based in part on figures provided by the Ministry of Health in the territory, which is run by the militant group Hamas.

The committee, a team of independent experts working with the U.N. human rights office, among other things called on Israel to take steps to protect children with disabilities from attacks and asked Palestinian authorities to help ensure they get proper care. It also urged foreign countries that have taken in some people from Gaza for care not to return them home while the conflict continues.

Israel did not take part in hearings last month on the issue, said the committee, whose work is based on a convention on people with disabilities agreed by 193 countries around the world – making it one of the most-adopted agreements on human rights.

Muhannad Salah Al-Azzeh, a committee member, noted that even in the best of times, people with disabilities – such as blindness, lifelong injuries or mental impairments – face “exclusion and discrimination” and it often gets worse in times of armed conflict.

He said the committee considers the situation in Gaza “very concerning” and alluded to the difficulties that people with disabilities face in getting around in rubble-strewn streets, obeying evacuation orders and obtaining food and medical devices they need.

“We do believe that all state parties to the CRPD, they really failed in a way or another to fulfill their obligations to protect, and to ensure the minimum protection of persons with disabilities in the emergency situation” in Gaza, he told reporters in Geneva by video.

The situation for people with disabilities in Gaza and Palestinian areas came as the committee carried out a periodic review of human rights around the world. Finland, Kiribati, the Maldives and North Korea were also reviewed at the latest session.

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