TEHRAN – The U.S.-backed Israeli genocidal war on Gaza has inflicted war-zone level injuries on civilians, research finds. 

A new study has revealed that civilians in Gaza are suffering injuries that mirror, and in some cases exceed, those typically seen among professional soldiers in intense war zones. 

The research, published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), offers a rare and detailed insight into the extreme physical toll of the Israeli occupation regime’s ongoing genocidal assault in the densely populated Palestinian territory.

Between August 2024 and February 2025, international healthcare workers operating in Gaza collected data on nearly 24,000 trauma cases. The findings are grim: civilians are enduring blast injuries, burns, and limb trauma on a scale usually observed in combat troops.

“The injuries we’re seeing in Gaza are what you’d expect from intense military combat, not civilian life,” said Bilal Irfan, a bioethicist at the University of Michigan and co-author of the study.

Explosions driving mass casualties

About two-thirds of the documented injuries were caused by explosions. These included high-energy blast wounds to the head, chest, abdomen, and limbs; injuries that often require immediate and complex medical intervention. 

In other war-torn regions, such patterns are almost exclusive to front-line soldiers. By contrast, in Gaza, these injuries are appearing in large numbers among children, the elderly, and people who were not involved in any fighting.

Burns and limb trauma at alarming levels

Burn injuries were particularly devastating. Over 18% of the trauma cases involved burns; many of them severe. Shockingly, more than 10% of these were fourth-degree burns, meaning they burned through all layers of skin and into muscle and bone.

Children were disproportionately affected by burn trauma, often caused by incendiary weapons and fuel-air explosives, which are known to spread fire indiscriminately in confined urban areas.

Medical infrastructure collapse

The study also points to the near-collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system. Over 1,500 healthcare workers have been killed since the genocidal war escalated in October 2023, and hundreds of hospitals and ambulances have been targeted. This has left survivors of traumatic injuries with little access to care or rehabilitation.

Additionally, the blockade on fuel and medical supplies has crippled the ability of hospitals to respond effectively. Many trauma patients face amputations or life-long disabilities that could have been prevented with timely treatment.

Legal and ethical implications

The use of heavy explosive weapons in crowded urban areas, including refugee camps, raises significant concerns under international humanitarian law. The Geneva Conventions prohibit indiscriminate attacks on civilian populations, yet the scale and type of injuries reported suggest that these protections are being systematically violated.

Satellite imagery backs up these concerns. Nearly two-thirds of Gaza’s infrastructure is damaged or destroyed, and entire neighborhoods have been flattened, leaving little doubt about the scale of bombardment.

A civilian population under fire

Perhaps most striking is the comparison to U.S. military data from Iraq and Afghanistan. In those wars, around 67% of combat injuries were from explosives: the same percentage now seen among civilians in Gaza. 

Experts say this overlap underscores the militarized nature of the genocide on a trapped civilian population.

“This isn’t just collateral damage,” said Irfan. “It reflects the reality of modern urban warfare waged without meaningful distinction between combatants and civilians.”

Call for accountability and monitoring

The study concludes with a call for robust, conflict-sensitive medical surveillance systems to track injuries in real time. The goal is to improve trauma care, but also to inform international accountability efforts.

With over 66,000 Palestinians killed and another 168,000 wounded, Gaza’s civilian population is enduring what experts call one of the most medically devastating sieges in modern history.