2023-10-21 17:59:19
October 21, 2023
Baghdad/Al-Masala Al-Hadath: Parents and psychiatrists in the Gaza Strip say that symptoms of shock appear on the faces of children in the Palestinian Strip more than ever after two weeks of intense Israeli bombing, with no safe place to hide from falling bombs and little possibility that the attacks will stop.
Children make up about half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million and live under almost constant bombardment, and many of them filled temporary shelters in UN-run schools after fleeing their homes with little food or clean water.
Israel is expected to launch a ground attack soon on Gaza in response to the cross-border attack launched by fighters affiliated with the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on southern Israel on October 7, which killed more than 1,400 people and resulted in the detention of 210 others.
Psychiatrist Fadel Abu Hain from the Gaza Strip said that the children began to show serious symptoms of shock, such as convulsions, involuntary urination, fear, aggressive behavior, nervousness, and an unwillingness to stay away from their parents.
The Ministry of Health in the Strip said that at least 4,385 people have been killed in Gaza so far, including more than 1,500 children, while 13,000 others were injured.
The problem is exacerbated by the state of temporary shelters at UN schools, where more than 380,000 people are sheltering in the hope of escaping the bombing.
Sometimes 100 people sleep in one classroom, which requires constant cleaning. There is little supply of electricity or water so bathrooms and toilets are very dirty.
Tahrir Tabsh, a mother of six children taking shelter in a school, said that her children suffer a lot during the night and do not stop crying and urinate on themselves unintentionally, noting that she does not have enough time to clean them one by one.
She added that they do not feel safe in these schools either. The United Nations says that these schools were bombed several times, and Tabsh witnessed several strikes hitting nearby buildings. She said that her children jump in fear when they hear the sound of a chair moving.
Psychiatrist Abu Hein said that the lack of any safe place caused a general feeling of fear and terror among all residents, noting that children are the most affected.
He added that the reaction of some children was direct and expressed their concerns. He said that although these children need immediate intervention, they may be in better condition than other children who have kept the terror and trauma inside them.
* Psychological aid
One of the houses in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip houses about 90 people, including 30 under the age of 18, and they are forced to sleep in shifts due to lack of space.
Ibrahim Al-Agha, one of those present in the house and working as an engineer, spoke about the effects of the attacks, saying that the screams always get louder with the sound of any explosion or the hit of any nearby target, and that they try to calm the children by telling them that they are just fireworks. But the older ones understand what’s happening.
The Agha stressed that they will need a lot of psychological support after the end of this war.
Gaza’s healthcare system was already exhausted before the war began this month, and is now on the brink of collapse. Mental health experts have long warned of the heavy toll it has already taken on children.
A 2022 report by Save the Children concluded that the psychosocial wellbeing of children in Gaza was at “worryingly low levels” after 11 days of fighting in 2021, leaving half of Gaza’s children in need of support.
Mental health experts in Gaza say there is no such thing as post-traumatic stress disorder because trauma in the Strip is constant, with recurring bouts of armed conflict stretching back nearly two decades.
Early Saturday morning, after an Israeli airstrike destroyed a building in Gaza City, killing several members of the Abu Akar family, a large group of children stood among those watching as rescuers searched through the rubble for survivors and bodies.
While the women nearby were crying and sobbing, the children stood watching without anything showing on their faces.
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