96% of Gaza children feel death is imminent, study reveals
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More than 60% of the children surveyed reported experiencing traumatic events during the war, with many exposed to multiple traumatic incidents.
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Shireen Daifallah's children, who were displaced from northern Gaza, sleep in their tent at a camp for displaced people in Deir al-Balah, Gaza Strip, Saturday, November 30, 2024. (AP)
A recent study examining children enduring the war in Gaza has revealed that 96% feel their death is imminent, while nearly half express a desire to die due to the trauma they have endured, The Guardian reported.
A needs assessment, conducted by a Gaza-based NGO with support from the War Child Alliance charity, also found that 92% of surveyed children are “not accepting of reality,” 79% experience nightmares, and 73% display signs of aggression.
“This report lays bare that Gaza is one of the most horrifying places in the world to be a child,” said Helen Pattinson, chief executive of War Child UK.
“Alongside the levelling of hospitals, schools and homes, a trail of psychological destruction has caused wounds unseen but no less destructive on children who hold no responsibility for this war," she added.
Conducted in June this year, the survey included responses from parents or caregivers of 504 children from families where at least one child is disabled, injured, or unaccompanied. The sample was divided between northern and southern Gaza and supplemented with detailed interviews.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the Israeli war on Gaza has killed more than 44,000 people, with the UN Human Rights Office recently reporting that 44% of verified martyrs are children.
The psychological survey, released on Wednesday, was conducted by the Community Training Centre for Crisis Management, a Gaza-based organization, with support from the Dutch Relief Alliance and the War Child Alliance.
The report underscored that “the psychological toll on children was severe, with high levels of stress manifested in symptoms such as fear, anxiety, sleep disturbances, nightmares, nail-biting, difficulty concentrating and social withdrawal.”
It explained that “children have witnessed the bombing of their homes and schools, experienced the loss of loved ones, and have been displaced or separated from their families while fleeing for safety.”
Approximately 1.9 million Palestinians in Gaza—about 90% of the population—have been displaced, many multiple times. Half of this number are children who have lost their homes and been forced to flee their communities.
More than 60% of the children surveyed reported experiencing traumatic events during the war, with many exposed to multiple traumatic incidents.
An estimated 17,000 children in Gaza are unaccompanied, having been separated from their parents, though the report suggests the actual number may be much higher.
“Being separated from their families places these children at a heightened risk of exploitation, abuse and other serious violations of their rights,” the report cautioned.
It added that “as a result of such exposure, children develop responses that may persist long after the war has ceased, profoundly affecting their daily lives.”
“Traumatic responses can manifest in various ways, including ongoing emotional distress, anxiety, behavioural changes, difficulties in relationships, regression, nightmares, sleep disturbances, eating issues, and physical symptoms such as pain.”
Almost all (96%) feel their death is imminent, while 49% actively wish for death—a sentiment more common among boys (72%) than girls (26%).
War Child has reported that it and its partners have reached 17,000 children in Gaza with mental health support thus far, aiming to extend this aid to one million children in what the charity describes as the largest humanitarian effort in its 30-year history.
“The international community must act now before the child mental health catastrophe we are witnessing embeds itself into multigenerational trauma, the consequences of which the region will be dealing with for decades to come,” Pattinson underlined.
Read more: Nearly 1mln children in Gaza facing winter without basic needs: UN
