Children in the Gaza Strip are increasingly showing signs of trauma after two weeks of intense bombardment by Israel, parents and psychiatrists say in the small, crowded enclave, with no safe place to hide from the bombs and little prospect of respite.
Children make up nearly half of Gaza’s 2.3 million population, living under near-constant bombardment, with many crowded into temporary shelters in United Nations-run schools after fleeing their homes with little food or clean water.
Israel is expected to launch a ground attack on Gaza soon, in response to the offensive by Hamas soldiers in southern Israel on October 7 that killed more than 1,400 people, with another 210 held hostage .
“The children (…) began to develop serious symptoms of trauma, such as convulsions, wetting the bed, fear, aggressive behavior, nervousness and not leaving their parents’ side,” said Gaza-based psychiatrist Fadel Abu Heen.
More than 4,100 Palestinians were killed in Gaza so far, including more than a thousand children, while 13,000 people have been injured, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
Conditions in makeshift shelters at UN schools, where more than 380,000 people are sheltering in the hope of escaping bombings, only worsen the problem.
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Sometimes there are 100 people sleeping in a classroom, which requires continuous cleaning. There is little electricity and water, so the bathrooms and toilets are very dirty.
“Our children suffer a lot at night. They cry all night, they urinate on themselves accidentally and I don’t have time to clean up,” said Tahreer Tabash, a mother of six taking shelter at a school.
Even there, they are not safe. These schools were hit several times, the UN said, and Tabash saw strikes hitting nearby buildings. When his children hear even a chair being moved, they jump in fear, he said.
See images of the conflict between Israel and Hamas
Source: CNN Brasil
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