A painful future awaits children in Gaza.. The numbers of orphans cannot be counted Lifestyle

Children make up about half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, and have been living under constant bombardment since Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood” On October 7, 2023. Many of them are crowded into temporary shelters and in schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), after being displaced from their homes, and they have little food and clean water.

Nearly 5,000 children have been martyred since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, equivalent to 40% of the victims, while thousands have become orphans as a result of the death of their parents as a result of the bombing.

Thousands of orphans under bombardment

Although the number of Palestinian children who have lost one or both of their parents due to war conditions is not limited, a difficult fate awaits them given the weak capabilities of orphanages in Gaza.

Charity activist Ahmed Khater, and a member of the Kuwaiti “Blessed Hour” Society, told Al Jazeera.net that the numbers of children who have lost their parents since last October number in the thousands, and they cannot be counted yet, because they will not be accurate. anyway.

According to a report issued by the “National System for Child Protection and Alternative Care for Children – SOS” in 2017, there are only 4 homes in Gaza, the most important of which was damaged by an Israeli bombing in 2021.

The capacity of orphanages in Gaza is 2,800 children, noting that they have turned into shelters for all displaced people due to war conditions, making Arab charitable societies the only means of sponsorship for orphans.

The number of orphaned children before the recent aggression amounted to about 33 thousand, according to the latest statistics of the Islamic Charitable Foundation SKT Welfare, while the Orphans in Need Foundation estimated them at more than 22 thousand orphans and 5 thousand widows, facing unimaginable dangers. For their safety, widows also face difficulties in supporting their children alone.

Seven years ago, a report by the “National System for Child Protection and Alternative Care for Children-SOS” program stated that the percentage of orphans registered with the Palestinian Ministry of Social Development, in 2016, amounted to 2.3% of those under the age of 17 years. But in 2018, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child reported that the State of Palestine had not provided a census of the number of orphaned children, because counting them was a challenge.

It is worth noting that Israel’s aggression against Gaza in 2014 left about 1,500 new orphans in the Strip as a result of the Israeli Operation Protective Edge, while the Palestinian Ministry of Social Affairs estimated them in an Anatolia News Agency report at 2,000.

Children face constant trauma

Regarding the psychological conditions of children, Reuters reported last October that Save the Children said that the psychological and social well-being of children in Gaza had reached “worryingly low levels,” 11 days after the Israeli aggression in 2021. This left half of the children in need of psychological support.

Mental health experts in Gaza said that there is no such thing as post-traumatic stress disorder in the Strip, because the trauma is continuous, with repeated bouts of bombing, extending for nearly two decades, and while the adults sob, the children stand watching, with no expressions on their faces. .

Reuters quoted a psychiatrist who noticed symptoms of serious shock appearing in children after the aggression, such as: convulsions, involuntary urination, fear, aggressive behavior, nervousness, and refusal to leave their parents. The doctor did not fear for those who showed symptoms of shock – despite their urgent need for treatment – as much as he feared for those who maintained terror and shock inside them.

Research published by Save the Children until 2021 also showed that in addition to physical harm, economic deprivation, and difficulty accessing basic services such as health care, the siege has sparked a mental health crisis for children and youth, with 15 years of life under siege leaving behind mass casualties. Depression, anxiety, and panic occur among 4 out of every 5 children in the Gaza Strip.

The research observed a significant deterioration in children’s mental health, compared to similar research in 2018, with the number of children reporting psychological distress increasing from 55% to 80%.