Al Jazeera Net correspondents
Gaza- With confused and shocked eyes, he looked right and left, not wanting to see us or anyone. This is the case of Muhammad, the three-year-old child. He has not spoken a single word since his house was bombed. He lost his mother and only sister, and all he is left with is his father, whom he does not want to be absent. About him for a moment.
Muhammad is not the only one in this situation who was exposed to the brutality and ugliness of the current war on Gaza. Muhannad also remained under the rubble for 3 days during which he did not see a speck of light, and then he emerged with an amputated foot, missing all his family members and cousins, as his grandmother told us.
As for Rital, the 12-year-old girl who was the top valedictorian in her school, she could not understand what happened to her in terms of the fractures in her foot and the loss of her brothers, and in a sad tone that was almost inaudible, she said, “My brother Amir was martyred, and my brother Youssef was martyred. There is no one left to play with, my legs hurt every day.” (It hurts me), and I can’t walk or even hold books. I read what I don’t know.”
In the same context, psychologist Kifaya Baraka told Al Jazeera Net, “Every day we treat more than 60 cases of children, youth, and the elderly, who suffer from psychological crises as a result of the war and aggression against Gaza.”
Baraka added, “We have been working within the emergency plan announced by the Ministry of Health since the first day of the aggression on Gaza. We are trying to treat those who were exposed to shocking and horrific events during the bombing, whether those who were in their homes and were exposed to the bombing, or those who were displaced on the Salah al-Din Road from northern Gaza to the south, where They saw corpses on the road, sniper operations, and assassinations of displaced people in front of their eyes, which caused them to have serious psychological crises, especially children.”
Baraka talks about the symptoms that afflict the cases, and they are treated as much as possible until they recover. She says, “The afflicted cases suffer from violent aggressive behavior, loss of appetite, and refusal to eat, especially children. They also suffer from involuntary urination, nail biting, thumb sucking, sleepwalking, and night terrors. On our way to treatment, we are taught “The families know how to deal with these cases, accept their psychological condition, and develop a complete treatment plan.”
The World Health Organization warned of the worsening conditions as a result of the war and the continued aggression against Gaza, and said that the situation is difficult to describe, and pointed to the long-term psychological effects and consequences on survivors and families.
Earlier, the Palestinian Ministry of Health announced that the number of victims of the Israeli aggression since its beginning had risen to 15,207 martyrs, and the number of injured had risen to 40,652, with varying injuries.
