The Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has ended, and its psychological effects on children have not ended. All the time, they ask, "What is the war over? Simple questions but bridle the mouths of mothers.
Many questions and behaviors that the children of Gaza are now doing after eleven days of continuous bombardment on all the neighborhoods of the Strip, and the terrifying sound of bombing and the scenes of killing and destruction that the children saw on social media were raising many questions to them.
After the end of the war, despite the psychological pressure that the young people lived through, they insisted - unusually - to go out to witness the devastation.
According to a recent statistic issued by the Ministry of Health in Gaza, the outcome of the recent aggression reached 253 martyrs, including 66 children, and dozens of injuries. The occupation always invents new methods of terrorizing children, either by killing them, demolishing homes on their heads, or frightening them with the sound of its rockets.
*****psychiatric disturbances
The talk of children after the recent escalation became different. Ahmed Rajab - 10 years old - despite his young age, witnessed many military tours of the Gaza Strip, and his questions became surprising every time his parents.
After the truce was announced, Ahmed decided to go out to the street to inspect his neighborhood, and when he reached the cemetery next to his house, he was greatly affected and returned to tell his father, “Die the dead over their death, Daddy!” The little boy deplored what the Israeli warplanes had done when they destroyed the graves.
As for the child’s mother, Ayham Salih, says to “The Message”: During the last days, I noticed behaviors on my little one, who was not yet seven years old, that did not exist. He was moving a lot and talking more, but after the escalation, he became silent and distracted a lot, apart from his fear of leaving the house and involuntary urination in night."
The mother returns the reason for what happened with her son that the area she lives in, which is the sand, was subjected to daily bombardment, in addition to her son seeing pictures of the destruction on his iPad, so he used to ask and cry from time to time, "Why did the Jews kill the children?"
What happened to the children in the Gaza Strip during the recent escalation will be followed by psychological effects that affect their personality, especially when they are exposed to a horrific event directly, and here the psychologist Enas Al-Khatib followed by saying: “What the children lived under the bombing will cause them psychological traumas that often appear after the event,” explaining that Children exhibit behaviors such as bedwetting, loss of appetite and unwillingness to speak, as well as violence and screaming.
Al-Khatib mentioned that the loss of parents and the destruction of the home are among the most severe traumas that the child suffers, the fact that the family is the warm embrace that gives the child safety and security, and the home is the center of the feeling of safety and stability, and losing them makes the child suffer from painful and severe psychological problems and disorders.
She explains that the child during the period of aggression needs to provide his basic needs such as food and clothing, while psychological care begins after the end of the battle, indicating that the child needs many techniques such as captive therapy, cognitive behavioral or spiritual or relaxation and movement techniques, and all according to the psychological trauma he was exposed to.
Al-Khatib pointed out that the trauma experienced by the child may turn into behavioral and mental illnesses that lead to him becoming a psychiatric patient in need of medication, in addition to what he was exposed to that drives him to the inability to rejoice and enjoy his time, in addition to his constant reflection on the traumatic and painful experiences that occurred with him.
On the extent of availability of psychological services in the Gaza Strip, she mentioned that there are many institutions working on the ground, but they are not sufficient to the extent of the problem due to the increase in the number of people who have been exposed to psychological crises and chronic trauma.
It is noteworthy that during the period of the aggression on Gaza, and until the moment, specialized pages appeared on Instagram, run by psychologists abroad, offering their services for psychological support sessions and counseling for situations faced by young people.
It was evident during the escalation in Gaza, the increasing cases of fear and anxiety that plagued the youngsters with every missile landing on the Strip, which will leave scars on their fragile psyches that may take years to remove.
