The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)
has reported an increase in the levels of mental disorders among
the population of the Gaza Strip, especially among children, many
of whom were already in need of mental health services and
psychosocial support.
Over three violent days in early August, until a ceasefire was
reached on 7 August, Israeli Defence Forces launched some 147 air
strikes against targets in Gaza while Palestinian militants
unleashed around 1,100 rockets and mortars into Israel.
Briefing the Security
Council on 8 August, Tor Wennesland, Special Coordinator
for the Middle East Peace Process, reported that 46 Palestinians
had been killed and 360 injured, and 70 Israelis injured.
A heavy toll on children
17 Palestinian children were among those killed in Gaza in
August, and the conflict is taking a heavy toll on all young
people living in the Strip, said Adele Khodr, UNICEF Regional
Director for the Middle East and North Africa, in a statement welcoming the
ceasefire.
"For many children, this was their fifth conflict in the past 15
years. Many are already living with the long-term psychological
effects of constant exposure to violence” noted Ms. Khodr.
After visiting a family in Gaza whose house was severely damaged
in the conflict, Lynne Hastings, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for
the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said that “the humanitarian
situation in Gaza is already deteriorating, and this latest
escalation will only make matters worse. We stand ready to work
with all parties to ensure that humanitarian needs are met.”
Lynn Matar, 11 years, recounts difficult moments she experienced
after an Israeli air raid on one of the houses adjacent to her
grandfather's house in the Rafah Palestinian refugee camp.
Living ‘in a state of frustration and psychological
deterioration’
Speaking at a workshop organized by the UN Relief and Works
Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), Dr.
Yousef Shahin, head of UNRWA’s Disease Prevention and Control
Program, said that the Agency’s mental health and psychological
support program, to treat more than 87,000 cases, is one of the
most important such programs in the Gaza Strip.
"We are now working on the process of surveying cases, and if it
is found that psychological support is needed, a file is opened,
followed up, and treatment is provided. Common symptoms include
depression and epilepsy, and there are other cases related to
chronic physical diseases, which are of psychological origin".
65 per cent live below the poverty line
For his part, Dr. Sami Owaida of the Gaza Mental Health Program
attributed the psychological challenges faced by the residents of
the Gaza Strip to the Israeli occupation and blockade of the
Strip, which has lasted for over 15 years. "More than 65 percent
of the population of Gaza live below the poverty line, and more
than 60 percent are unemployed."
Dr. Owaida’s comments were echoed by Dr. Ghada Al Jadba, Head of
the UNRWA Health Program, who said that people in Gaza live “in a
state of frustration and psychological deterioration as a result
of the deteriorating economic, social and political conditions”.
“The conflict in May 2021 [in which much of Gaza City was
destroyed, and hundreds were killed or injured], led to a
psychological shock, on top of dealing with electricity and water
cuts, high rates of poverty, and unemployment – all factors that
led to the deterioration of the already worsening health and
psychological situation of the residents of Gaza".
More than two million people live in the Gaza Strip: there is
only one mental health hospital, with a capacity of fifty beds,
to serve the five governorates in the Strip.
