Work

Palestine 2023 in Global and Historical Context: A Cross-National Analysis of Conflict-Related Amputation Incidence Across 34 Years

Year: 2026

Type: preprint

Abstract: Armed conflict produces amputations through direct trauma and healthcare system degradation. Using the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023, we conducted a cross-national comparison of amputation incidence across 204 countries over 34 years (1990–2023). Palestine's 2023 rate of 1,313 per 100,000 (95% UI: 444–3,069) exceeded all 203 other countries by 60 standard deviations. Demographic disaggregation revealed a pattern structurally inverted relative to comparator conflict states and consistent with indiscriminate civilian exposure to explosive weapons. Among children under five years, the combined rate reached 2,424 per 100,000, 110-fold above the conflict-state mean. Across 34 years, only two country-years have exceeded 1,000 amputations per 100,000: Rwanda in 1994 and Palestine in 2023. These findings provide a systematic epidemiological record of a civilian amputation burden that, across 34 years of global data, has only one precedent.

Source: Research Square

DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9971106/v1