Tehran – The US-backed Israeli genocide war on Gaza caused civilians to be injured at the war zone level, research finds.
New research reveals that Gaza civilians reflect and in some cases have more injuries than those commonly seen among professional soldiers in intense war zones.
Published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), this study provides rare and detailed insight into the extreme physical sacrifices of the ongoing genocide attacks of the Israeli occupation regime on the populated Palestinian territory.
Between August 2024 and February 2025, international healthcare workers operating in Gaza collected data on almost 24,000 trauma cases. The survey results are strict. Civilians endure explosions, burns, and limb trauma on the scales normally observed in combat forces.
“The injuries we see in Gaza are what we expect from intense military combat, not civilian life,” said Biral Irfan, a bioethicist at the University of Michigan and a research co-author.
An explosion driving mass casualties
Approximately two-thirds of documented injuries were caused by an explosion. These included high-energy blast wounds to the head, chest, abdomen and limbs. Injuries that often require immediate and complicated medical intervention.
In other war-torn regions, such patterns are almost exclusive to frontline soldiers. In contrast, in Gaza, these injuries are manifested in large numbers among children, the elderly, and those not involved in the battle.
Burns and trauma to the limbs at alert level
The burns were particularly devastating. Over 18% of trauma cases suffered burns. Many of them are serious. Surprisingly, over 10% of these were the fourth burns. That is, it burned through every layer of skin to the muscles and bones.
Children were often disproportionately affected by burn trauma caused by burn-cen weapons and fuel explosives. These are known to indiscriminately spread fires in limited urban areas.
The collapse of medical infrastructure
The study also points out a near collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system. Since the war of genocide escalated in October 2023, more than 1,500 healthcare workers have been killed and hundreds of hospitals and ambulances have been targeted. This leaves survivors of traumatic injuries with little access to care or rehabilitation.
Additionally, the lockdown of fuel and medical supplies has crippled hospitals’ ability to respond effectively. Many trauma patients face amputations or lifelong impairments that can be prevented with timely treatment.
Legal and ethical implications
The use of heavy, explosive weapons in crowded urban areas, including refugee camps, raises great concern under international humanitarian law. The Geneva treaty prohibits indiscriminate attacks on civilians, but the size and type of reported injuries suggest that these protections are systematically violated.
Satellite imagery supports these concerns. Almost two-thirds of Gaza’s infrastructure have been damaged or destroyed, and the entire neighborhood has been flattened, with little doubt as to the scale of the artillery fire.
Civilians under fire
Perhaps most impressive is the comparison with US military data from Iraq and Afghanistan. In these wars, approximately 67% of combat injuries were caused by explosives. That’s the same percentage we see today among Gaza civilians.
Experts say the overlap highlights the militarized nature of genocide against trapped civilians.
“This is not just a side loss,” Irfan said. “It reflects the reality of modern urban warfare, unfolding without any meaningful distinction between combatants and civilians.”
Seek accountability and supervision
The study concludes with a call for a robust, conflict-sensitive medical surveillance system to track injuries in real time. The goal is to not only improve trauma care, but also inform international accountability efforts.
With more than 66,000 Palestinians killed and another 168,000 injured, Gaza civilians endure what experts call one of the most medically devastating sieges in modern history.