Doctor in Gaza warns Israeli-Palestinian conflict will have lasting impact on children's mental health
Israeli and Palestinian children have grown up 'under a shadow of war and terror,' says psychiatrist
A doctor in Gaza is heartbroken over images and stories of young children killed in the recent bombings, especially as she tried to shield her own children from the realities of the conflict.
"I have tried to prevent them from watching the TV or to see the awful photos. But this will not sustain forever; at one time, they will see it," said Rasha, a doctor of internal medicine in Gaza. CBC Radio is only using her first name because she fears professional consequences for speaking out.
She worries that images like this will have an impact on children's mental health.
"This is psychic trauma, and all these children need mental health support," she told The Current's Matt Galloway.
Youth psychiatrist Dr. Esti Galili-Weisstub said that generations of Israeli and Palestinian children have grown up "under a shadow of war and terror," though acknowledged Israeli children have better means of protection when fighting breaks out.
"That ongoing trauma affects the developing brain, affects your emotional capability, and unfortunately, we know it diminishes one's ability for creativity, for flexibility," said Galili-Weisstub, director of child and adolescent psychiatry at Hadassah Medical Center in Jerusalem.
We put our children between us, we hug them all the night.- Rasha
She said that children in the region live in the knowledge that the reality around them "might explode," and they are helpless to do anything about it.
After the last round of fighting in 2014, UNICEF estimated that 373,000 Palestinian children needed "immediate psycho-social first aid."
Rasha said her family did not leave their house for 10 days before the ceasefire went into effect early Friday. She and her husband have a four-year-old son and a three-year-old daughter, who are reaching the age where they ask questions about the world, she said.
The family has not slept in their bedrooms since the start of the attack, spending the nights together near the exit to their apartment, in case they needed to flee an attack, Rasha said.
"We put our children between us, we hug them all the night and we put our precious things, documents, just close to us."
"You don't know when it's your turn."
Civilian casualties unintentional: Israeli policy adviser
Friday's ceasefire came after 11 days of fighting between Israeli forces and Palestinian militants. At least 243 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes, including 66 children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not break the numbers down into fighters and civilians.
Twelve people in Israel, including a five-year-old boy, a 16-year-old girl and a soldier, have been killed by rockets fired by Palestinian militants.
Michael Freeman, a policy adviser to Israel's minister of foreign affairs, told CBC Radio earlier this week that the death of any child is "an absolute tragedy."
"We're doing everything we can to avoid civilian casualties," he told As It Happens host Carol Off on Tuesday, adding that the airstrikes were targeting Hamas bases and personnel.
He argued that Hamas is committing war crimes by firing missiles from civilian centres, using the population as a human shield.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad say at least 20 of their fighters have been killed, while Israel says the number is more than 200.
Speaking to As It Happens on Friday, Hamas's Head of International Relations Basem Naim said the militants were "only trying to defend the rights" of Palestinians.
"Palestinians know that the way to freedom and dignity, sometimes you have to pay the price," he told Off.
"Unfortunately, this is the way to freedom: painful and expensive."
Rasha said she doesn't believe enough was done to stop civilian deaths, pointing to an airstrike on an apartment building in Gaza City's densely populated Shati refugee camp on Saturday, which killed two women and eight children.
She said people try to build lives and start families in Gaza, only for a fresh round of conflict to come around, and destroy what they've built.
"They are not allowing anyone to dream in Gaza," she said.
Breaking a 'cycle of violence'
In her work in Jerusalem, Galili-Weisstub said she sees the impact of the recurring violence on Israeli kids as well. She thinks the last 11 days will have mental health implications for children, particularly in southern Israel, close to Gaza.
The country's Iron Dome defence system repelled most of the rocket attacks from Gaza, while air sirens warned families to seek refuge in bomb shelters.
"There's no question that there's better equipment to protect themselves, but they are a whole generation of children that are suffering from post-trauma," she told Galloway.
Galili-Weisstub is the co-leader of the Binational School of Psychotherapy in Jerusalem.
She said the initiative trains Palestinian, Arab-Israeli and Jewish-Israeli mental health professionals together, with a view to improving the services and support available to children affected by conflict.
"That's our main concern, that we give them the best treatment. I mean, I can't obviously affect politics as I would like to, but I can certainly treat the victims," she said.
The program also aims to build understanding through bringing members of different communities together, said Galili-Weisstub.
She said students have expressed how meaningful those interactions have been, to "realize the reality on the other side."
The program started with an initial group of 15 psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers, and a second cohort of 30 is now taking the training.
Galili-Weisstub said that if children receive proper care, they have a natural curiosity and empathy that will help them to overcome trauma.
But first, they must no longer feel threatened, she said.
"Our future lies in the new generation and ... in trying to stop the violent conflict," she said.
Rasha also worries that recent events "will generate violence, a continuous cycle of violence."
"The situation in Gaza needs a permanent solution because this will affect the future, the future of my children," she said.
Rasha's son wants to be an engineer when he grows up, while her daughter wants to be a doctor. She and her husband have tried to comfort them as much as they can in recent days, with games and stories and movies.
"We hug them almost all the time, and we try to calm them down. 'This will end soon,' we told them," she said.
"I love them more than anything in this world."
Written by Padraig Moran, with files from the Associated Press. Produced by Alex Zabjek and Ines Colabrese.
Hear full episodes of The Current on CBC Listen, our free audio streaming service.
