For many residents of Gaza, the impact of Israel’s ongoing military operations appears to be an unending reality. Even if a fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire were to successfully halt hostilities, the psychological scars and lingering fears would remain for those who have endured more than two years of intense conflict.
Fifteen-year-old Abed al-Aziz Abu Hawishal has experienced horrors that no teenager should face. He recounted to Al Jazeera how he was taken into a house in Gaza City during a period of refuge when Israeli forces stormed the area. “They dragged me close to a tank, and one of the soldiers pointed his gun at my head,” he said.
The trauma of witnessing what he described as a “massacre” near his home has left him emotionally withdrawn. “Bodies were flying over our house. I saw a woman without a head, and I even stepped on bodies as I ran, terrified for my life,” he shared. The psychological distress has manifested physically, resulting in high blood pressure, chronic diarrhea, and, most recently, kidney failure.
Similarly, eight-year-old Lana al-Sharif exhibits visible signs of trauma. Residents of the displacement camp in Khan Younis refer to her as “the elderly child,” as her once dark and lustrous hair has turned grey. Her father, Khalil al-Shareef, explained that she survived an Israeli air strike that collapsed the roof of their home. She later developed vitiligo, a condition that causes loss of skin, hair, and eye color, likely due to exposure to smoke and chemicals from the missiles.
“Many doctors have tried to treat her, but without success,” her father said. “She panics every time she hears an explosion.”
Psychologists warn that more than 80 percent of children in Gaza are showing symptoms of severe trauma. Sabreen Abu Rahman, a therapist working with affected children, noted that mental trauma often presents through physical symptoms such as headaches, stomach aches, bone pain, hair loss, vitiligo, and weakened immunity.
According to UNICEF, over 64,000 children have been killed or injured in Gaza since the conflict began. Homes, hospitals, and schools have been destroyed, and essential medical services have been severely disrupted. Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF’s Middle East and North Africa Regional Director, emphasized that “one million children have endured the daily horrors of surviving in the world’s most dangerous place to be a child, leaving them with wounds of fear, loss and grief.”
Despite the ceasefire that took effect on October 10, Israeli attacks have continued to claim lives. From Tuesday into Wednesday, the Gaza Health Ministry reported that 104 people were killed, including 46 children and 20 women. Beigbeder called for the truce to hold and urged for meaningful action beyond temporary calm. “The world cannot allow this ceasefire to fail,” he said.
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