{"id":5879,"date":"2025-12-18T19:05:47","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T19:05:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=5879"},"modified":"2025-12-18T19:05:47","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T19:05:47","slug":"gaza-doctors-use-3d-tech-to-save-limbs-shattered-by-israel-from-amputation-israel-palestine-conflict-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/?p=5879","title":{"rendered":"Gaza doctors use 3D tech to save limbs shattered by Israel from amputation | Israel-Palestine conflict News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"\">\n<p class=\"article__subhead\"><em>\u2018Palestinian doctors are still creating, still resisting, still saving lives \u2013 one printed piece at a time.\u2019<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>Doctors in Gaza battling the odds after the enclave\u2019s medical infrastructure was obliterated by Israel\u2019s genocidal war on the besieged enclave have found an ingenious way of saving Palestinians from losing fractured limbs.<\/p>\n<p>With hospitals struggling to function under frequent electricity blackouts, the territory\u2019s resourceful medics are harnessing the power of the sun to power 3D printers creating medical devices for the kinds of complex fractures that have become commonplace under relentless Israeli bombing.<\/p>\n<section class=\"more-on\">\n<h2 class=\"more-on__heading\">Recommended Stories<!-- --> <\/h2>\n<p><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">list of 3 items<\/span><span class=\"screen-reader-text\">end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>Dr Fadel Naim, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon and acting director general of al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, told Al Jazeera that medics were manufacturing so-called external fixators used to support shattered limbs from low-cost 3D-printed components made from recycled materials.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe types of the fracture we receive, especially in this war, were so complicated, so complex that the external fixator is the most suitable [treatment],\u201d he explained, demonstrating how the devices are assembled at minimal cost using the 3D components, metal rods and nuts and bolts.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4181694\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4181694\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4181694\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-18-at-11.19.09-AM-copy-1766046604.jpg?w=770&amp;resize=770%2C513&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"Gaza doctors use 3D\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4181694\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr Naim assembles an external fixator using 3D-printed components and metal rods [Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Naim worked with medical solidarity organisation Glia to lead the innovation in the enclave, creating fixators that would ordinarily cost more than $500 apiece from an open-source design, with no limits on manufacture thanks to the use of solar energy.<\/p>\n<p>Al Jazeera met Zakaria, one of three patients whose limbs were spared amputation after being fitted with locally produced fixators. Displaced southwards from the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza to Deir el-Balah, he was the first patient to receive treatment using the device after shrapnel from an Israeli strike shattered his leg.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4181706\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4181706\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4181706\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-18-at-11.20.46-AM-copy-1766046627.jpg?w=770&amp;resize=770%2C513&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"Gaza doctors use 3D\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4181706\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Zakaria, met in his tent in Deir el-Balah, can walk thanks to his locally made external fixator [Screen grab\/Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cI was injured in August and I was taken to the hospital without any medical care, but after two weeks, they brought me to the operation room and used a new device to fix my leg. To my surprise, it was a Palestinian-made device,\u201d said Zakaria, sitting in his tent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe has no pain, has no limitation of range of motion, he can walk,\u201d said Dr Naim, assessing his patient.<\/p>\n<p>Reporting from Gaza, Al Jazeera\u2019s Hind Khoudary said the pioneering technology was \u201ca lifeline in Gaza that\u2019s completely lost its electricity supplies and where the health system is collapsing\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn a place where everything is being destroyed, Palestinian doctors are still creating, still resisting, still saving lives \u2013 one printed piece at a time,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4181712\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-4181712\" style=\"width:770px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-arc-image-770 wp-image-4181712\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-18-at-11.21.18-AM-copy-1766046640.jpg?w=770&amp;resize=770%2C513&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"Gaza doctors use 3D\" fetchpriority=\"low\"\/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-4181712\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The technology has proven to be a \u2018lifeline\u2019 in Gaza, where medical infrastructure has collapsed during the war [Al Jazeera]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Glia said in a news release that 12 more patients are currently awaiting treatment, \u201cdemonstrating both the urgent need for these devices and the life-saving impact of local production under siege\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The organisation said the Gaza-led project had \u201cglobal significance\u201d, demonstrating how the technology could be used in \u201cextreme conditions\u201d and \u201coffering a model for other conflict zones, disaster-affected regions, and climate-vulnerable communities worldwide\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Israeli military operations have devastated Gaza throughout the war, with 63 percent of hospitals remaining out of commission as of December 9.<\/p>\n<p>The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) reported last month that 282,000 housing units have been destroyed in the enclave, where about 1.5 million Palestinians remain displaced.<\/p>\n<p>More than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israel unleashed its full-scale assault on the enclave following the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2018Palestinian doctors are still creating, still resisting, still saving lives \u2013 one printed piece at a time.\u2019 Doctors in Gaza battling the odds after the enclave\u2019s medical infrastructure was obliterated by Israel\u2019s genocidal war on the besieged enclave have found an ingenious way of saving Palestinians from losing fractured limbs. With hospitals struggling to function [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5880,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-middle-east-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5879"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5879\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5880"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}