Gaza Herald- For some children in Gaza, the sound of war did not end when the explosions stopped. It remained inside their ears, turning voices into distant sounds, lessons into silence, and ordinary warnings into dangers they could no longer hear.
Field estimates from the Atfaluna Society for Deaf Children indicate that the number of people living with hearing loss or hearing disabilities in Gaza has risen from roughly 20,000 before the war to about 35,000 since the bombardment began. The estimate includes people who have lost hearing as well as those at risk of temporary or permanent hearing damage from repeated explosions and extremely loud blasts.
The figure does not represent a complete medical registry. Hearing injuries have not been systematically documented across Gaza, and the collapse of health services has made it difficult to identify and follow every case. But screenings conducted by Atfaluna have revealed a growing burden of hearing impairment among children and adults exposed to the war.
The consequences are especially severe for children, whose ability to hear is closely tied to speech, learning, communication, and social development.
A War That Damaged More Than Buildings
Explosions can cause hearing injuries even when there are no obvious wounds on a child’s body. The pressure generated by a blast can damage the eardrum and structures of the middle and inner ear, leaving survivors with partial or complete hearing loss, persistent ringing, or difficulty understanding speech.
In Gaza, repeated exposure has turned that medical risk into a widespread problem. Atfaluna’s field estimates indicate that approximately 35,000 people are now living with or at risk of significant hearing damage linked to bombardment and explosions.
The organization’s screening work provides another indication of the scale. Thousands of people have undergone hearing assessments during the war, with new hearing impairments identified among children and adults exposed to conflict-related injuries.
But the true number remains difficult to determine. Gaza’s health system has been severely disrupted, specialized diagnostic equipment has been scarce, and many families have been displaced repeatedly, making regular medical follow-up nearly impossible.
For a child, that delay can carry consequences far beyond the injury itself.
When Silence Becomes a Barrier to Childhood
Before the war, Gaza already had thousands of children living with hearing impairments and depending on hearing aids, batteries, audiology services, speech therapy, and specialized education.
UNICEF estimated in 2025 that around 10,000 children in Gaza were living with hearing loss, including approximately 5,000 with severe hearing loss. Many were already dependent on hearing devices, while others had developed hearing problems as a result of war injuries and the collapse of health services.
For these children, losing access to a hearing aid is not a minor inconvenience.
A device can determine whether a child hears a teacher, understands a parent, or recognizes a warning during an emergency. UNICEF documented the experience of families whose children could not hear their parents calling during bombardment. In one case, a mother described becoming separated from her daughter during displacement because the child did not hear her calling.
Other children lost their hearing devices when their homes were destroyed. Some were left trying to attend makeshift schools while struggling to hear lessons.
The problem is compounded by shortages of hearing aids and batteries. In May 2025, UNICEF delivered 148 hearing aids to Gaza, describing the shipment as only a fraction of the need.
For families already struggling to find food, clean water, and shelter, replacing a hearing aid can become an impossible expense.
Children Waiting While Their Hearing Window Closes
The most urgent cases involve children who need more than a hearing aid.
Some require cochlear implants, specialized surgery that can restore access to sound for people with profound hearing loss. During much of the war, such procedures were unavailable inside Gaza, leaving families dependent on referrals and the possibility of leaving the Strip for treatment.
For young children, time matters. Specialists say cochlear implantation and subsequent rehabilitation are particularly important during the early years when the brain is developing the ability to process sound and language.
That makes every month without appropriate intervention significant.
One young Gaza girl documented in 2026 lost substantial hearing after an explosion and was assessed as needing a cochlear implant. Doctors said she would need to leave Gaza for the procedure, ideally before reaching the age of five.
Her case reflects a broader problem. The injury may occur in an instant, but the treatment can require surgery, specialized equipment, trained professionals, rehabilitation and years of follow-up.
Gaza has struggled to provide all of them.
A Medical Service Returns to Gaza
There is now a development that offers a narrow opening of hope.
On September 19, 2026, Nasser Medical Complex resumed cochlear implant operations for children with hearing loss, marking the return of the specialized service to Gaza after it had been suspended during the war. The current program is targeting 50 cases, with 10 procedures already completed successfully and additional operations planned.
The Ministry of Health has said the service is being restored in cooperation with medical partners and a specialist surgical team, with children forming the primary group targeted by the current phase.
The return of cochlear implantation is significant because the service had existed in Gaza before the war but was halted after damage to health facilities and the disruption of specialized medical care. Health officials now hope to expand the program to additional patients.
Yet the need extends beyond those currently undergoing surgery.
Health officials estimate that around 200 people in Gaza have complete deafness, including children born with hearing loss and others who developed deafness later because of illness, exposure to extreme noise, explosions, or war injuries. Medical teams have also reported difficulties identifying hearing loss early because specialized screening equipment was severely limited during the war.
For nearly two years, shortages of hearing-screening equipment, including devices used to assess newborn hearing, meant that some children could pass through critical early developmental stages without being properly diagnosed.
The restoration of screening and cochlear implantation therefore represents more than the return of one medical procedure. It is an attempt to rebuild an entire chain of care that begins with early detection and continues through surgery, hearing rehabilitation, and education.
Gaza’s Children Are Learning to Live With Silence
For children who have lost hearing during the war, recovery will not end with an operation or a hearing aid.
They may need speech therapy, rehabilitation, specialized education, and long-term medical monitoring. They also need classrooms equipped to include them, teachers able to communicate with them, and families who can continue supporting their rehabilitation after treatment.
Atfaluna has long provided audiology, speech therapy, sign-language training, early intervention and educational services for children and adults with hearing disabilities in Gaza. The organization has continued trying to provide these services despite the conditions created by the war.
The challenge is enormous because hearing loss has emerged alongside other forms of disability, displacement and trauma. Children who cannot hear are also navigating destroyed schools, unstable shelter and repeated displacement.
For them, the war has taken away more than the ability to hear a voice.
It can make it harder to hear a teacher calling their name, a parent warning them to move, a friend trying to speak to them, or the sounds that once made childhood feel ordinary.
Gaza is beginning to restore some of the medical services needed to bring sound back to these children. But for thousands who have already suffered hearing damage, the real recovery will require far more than surgery. It will require the chance to learn, communicate, and grow in a world where silence is no longer imposed on them by war.
