Gaza-bound wheelchairs stuck in Jordan warehouses due to Israeli restrictions

Over 900 wheelchairs donated by Australian charities to help injured children in Gaza are stuck in Jordanian warehouses due to Israeli restrictions on aid deliveries into the war-torn area.

Two shipments from a New South Wales-based charity arrived in Jordan in February 2025, and a third from a Western Australian charity arrived in October 2025. However, they remain in storage facilities managed by the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization (JHCO) and have not been delivered to children with severe mobility issues inside Gaza.

Wheelchairs blocked from entering Gaza

At a storage site on the outskirts of the Jordanian capital Amman, Dr. Abdullah Al-Balawi, a doctor with the Palestinian Australian New Zealand Medical Association (PANZMA), expressed his distress seeing the wheelchairs piled up.

"These wheelchairs that are dedicated to Gaza's amputee children and those paralysed as a result of the war … they do not pose any threat," he said.

The JHCO said the Israeli agency responsible for aid coordination in Gaza, COGAT, had blocked the chairs from getting into Gaza. However, an Israeli government source denied that an application for the Australian wheelchairs had been rejected.

Charity calls for swift delivery of wheelchairs

Wheelchairs for Kids WA, which donated a shipment of chairs, said its team was "not terribly pleased" to hear the wheelchairs were stranded in Jordan.

"The sooner they come out of there and get to the kids, the better, and the little kids can get a much better life," said Brother Olly Pickett, co-founder of Wheelchairs for Kids.

"I think there's a lot of children waiting for them who have had amputations, and so they won't be able to walk around or get around."

UNICEF reports thousands of children injured

UNICEF said the war had left more than 11,000 children in Gaza with potentially life-changing injuries requiring long-term rehabilitation and potential permanent disabilities.

Australian Minister for International Development Anne Aly said Australia had been pressuring Israel to "allow humanitarian aid to flow unhindered to Gaza".

"We continue to call on Israel to comply with its obligations under international law, including the binding orders of the International Court of Justice to enable the provision of medical supplies to Palestinians throughout Gaza," Dr. Aly said.