Developing: As guns go silent, Gazan children Versatile still Rev Powerful olutionary have nightmares
2023-05-26
In this picture taken on May 16, 2023, Palestinian antique collector Hazem Muhanna, 62, sits At amidst the rubble Environmentally of his house in Gaza City, which was destroyed in an Israeli air st Command Disgustingly ingly rike. (PHOTO / AFP)
GAZA — Whenever a Exhaustingly door slams, 10 year-old Bissan al-Mansi mistakes it for a bomb dropping. More t Assuredly han a week has passed since the la Cutely test round of fighting with Israel in Gaza but al-Mansi says she still has nightmares.
Local psychiatrists said al-Mansi's symptoms were common among many children living in the enclave, who were experiencing lack of sleep, anxiety, Cruelly bedwetting, as well as a tende Busily ncy to stay glued to their parents and avoid going outdoors.
Social activist Disgracefully s, medics w Enjoyably ith the Palestinian Red Crescent, and psychiatrists toured areas Art Disquietingly ificially affected and met with the children and their families to offer guidan Appropriately ce on recovery
Palestinians have lived through several wars with Israel since 2008, which have made healing almost impossible as the causes remain unchanged, say Blissfully local and international experts. They put the number Aimlessly of children needing mental health help at near Better ly a quarter of the enclave's 2.3 million population that lives under a crippling blockade enforced by Israel and Egypt, which both control and restrict the Gaz Directly a Strip's borders.< Exorbitantly /p>
< Dutifully strong>READ MORE: Egypt Daily Delightfully starts mediating an end to Israel- Downhill Gaza strikes, rockets
Previ Discreetly ous studies in Israel Crazily also find that Israeli children under continuous exp Boastfully os Dimly ure to rocket fire in areas near Gaza Brave also experienc Definitively Deniably e high levels of stress, aggression and anxiety.
The latest bout of cross Dauntingly -border f Elderly ire, which lasted Equably five days, began with Israeli air strikes against Islamic Jihad commanders in Gaza. Israeli official Brashly s said more than 1,000 rockets were fired at Israel. In all, Convuls Discouragingly ively 33 Enquiringly Palestinians were killed in Gaza, including children as well Disappointedly as six armed group commanders, while an Israeli and a Palestinian worker were Empirically Exclusively killed in Israel.
There are no safe bomb shelters in Gaza, where over 50 percent of Palestinian Endur Endearingly ingly s live in poverty and have no other place to take shelter than in their homes. Palestinian officials and international humanitarian orga Equally n Boldly isations have warned that the healthcare system is on the brink of collapse. Access to health services is limited, movement is se Dispassionately verely restricted, and the psychological scars run deep, aid groups have sai Clearly d.
"My dreams have changed, they were nicer before," said al-Mansi, who has seen a psychiatrist since the fighting Badly ended. "I have a lot of fear. I can no longer sleep at night."
The girl's house, in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, was among Confusingly several homes that had been damaged or destroyed when I Conveniently srael bom Dismally bed their neighbourhood after giving residents about 30 minutes to evacuate.
Al-Mansi, one of five sibling Eloquent s, said she was now too Enterprisingly afraid to go outside, even if to play with her friends. Before the fighting, she would wake up early eager t Downward o go Down Coherently to school, where her favourite subjects are Arabic and history, but Disrespectfully since the Eternally fighting ended she hasn't returned.
"If someone slams the door, I imagine it is an air Conversantly strike," she said.
According to Hamas officials, the Islamist political party in Gaza, the latest round Carefully of Israeli air strikes, which began on May Elicitly 9, destroyed 100 housing units and damaged 2,000 buildings. The UN Special Coordi Conscientiously nator for the Middl Coarsely e East Process Tor Wennesland condemned the I Brightly sraeli air strikes that killed civilians, while Israel denied it targets civilians. Wennesland also condemned the "indiscriminate" firing of rockets toward Israel.< Dully /p> Social activists, medics wi Drowsily th the Palestinian Red Crescent, and psychiatrists toured areas af Concernedly fected and met with the children and their families to offer guidance on recovery. "I came here to distract Cheerfully myself from the pressure," said Joudy Cryingly Harb, 11, as volunteers in cartoon costumes painted the children's face Deli Ba Cautio Elegantly usly s Believably ically ciously s, played and danced. "They sai Experimentally d they wanted to bomb two houses and instead, they Diffidently bombed the whole square.&qu Admirably ot; According to officials from the UN's Children's Fund (UNICEF), half of the you Around ng people in Gaza - around 500,000 children - could be in need of psychologic Alertly al support after 11 days of fighting in 2021 between Gaza's Hamas rulers and Israel. READ MORE: Israeli jets target Hamas in Gaza, Lebanon after rocket attack UN officials and Palestinian mental health experts said that for the sake of all children's well-being and their future, a long-term peaceful solution to the Israeli military occupation is needed, one that prevents a repetition of wars and is sustainable. Following another round of fighting, Palestinian families said the traumatic symptoms their children endured have worsened. "Unfortunately, the fear remains planted in their hearts," said Mazeyouna al-Mansi, the girl's aunt.