A new report, the first of its kind, reveals the “shocking psychological impact of the ongoing war on children in Gaza.” The report is based on a needs assessment study conducted by the Gaza-based Community Training Centre for Crisis Management. The study interviewed more than 500 children, parents and caregivers in June 2024.
HRATCHE KOUNDARJIAN; hratchek@warchild.org.uk and danielj@warchild.org.uk
Koundarjian is the head of communications and campaigns at War Child UK.
Caregivers report that:
- 96% of children feel death is imminent.
- 92% of children are not accepting of reality.
- 87% display severe fear.
- 79% suffer from nightmares.
- 73% exhibit symptoms of aggression.
- 49% wish to die because of the war.
Helen Pattison, CEO of War Child UK, said that the report “lays bare that Gaza is one of the most horrifying places in the world to be a child.” War Child and its partners have reached more than 17,000 children so far to provide mental health support, and have stepped in to provide life-saving assistance for 180,000 individuals.
Koundarjian told the Institute for Public Accuracy: “War Child partners provide Team Up-inspired and caregiver sessions in the middle area and in Gaza City. Facilitators also deliver family counseling Psychological First Aid sessions. War Child partners also conduct group and individual counseling sessions for both children and parents.
“War Child also operates a telephone-based remote psychological debriefing service, which helps counselors and other mental health professionals with debriefing and complex case management. We also operate a mobile phone messaging app service to help mental health professionals and facilitators with training and answering questions and providing advice.
“It’s very difficult [to know how children have responded to mental health support so far] due to the highly complex environment that War Child is operating within in Gaza. Children tend to respond in a variety of ways to severe mental health trauma, but one key element of support is to try and eliminate or remove the external factors causing the stress. Unfortunately, in Gaza this is not possible.”