Gaza's Children Living with Trauma, a Year After the Israeli War Crimes

Published today (updated) 28/12/2009 12:20

Gaza – Ma'an –

A year after the Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity perpetrated against Palestinian civilians during the Israeli war of aggression on Gaza, children still recall moments of fear, scenes of blood, and the sound of shelling.

Nearly half of the Gaza Strip's population is under 18. The vast majority of Gaza's children (98% according to one study) have experienced trauma or witnessed violence.

Fourteen-year-old Amira Al-Qarm's father and two brothers were killed in front of her eyes when an Israeli rocket struck her family's home in Gaza’s Tel Al-Hawwa neighborhood. Although she was also injured by shrapnel, she managed to crawl to shelter in another home where she lay bleeding for four days.

Amira recalled the first moments of the war: "In the first strike, the building of the preventive security which was near our home in Tel Al-Hawa was shelled, and I went to search for my brothers who were at school the moment the shelling happened."

"We lived the war with all of its aspects in the house until its last days, when my father and two of my brothers were killed. I was injured by shrapnel in the foot. I was unable to do anything until the war was over when I was taken to the hospital."

Of the 1,455 people reported killed during the war, 430 were children. Together, women and children were 48% of the 5,300 people who were injured.

Luay Subuh, 11, lost his sight when shards from an Israeli missile hit him in the face during a bombing in Beit Lahiya, in the northern Gaza Strip.

"Israeli planes distributed flyers ordering us to evacuate our homes, so we went to Kamal Edwan hospital and then to UN school where we stayed for 15 days," he said.

"After that Israel declared two hour truce and I went with my father to our home to bring some stuff, clothes and food. At that moment Israeli planes fired a rocket that hit me directly and no one was able to rescue me until for hours and as a result I lost sight and got paralyzed in my right hand."

Nezar Al-Yazeji, 9, saw his uncle and cousin killed in front of his eyes in the central Gaza Strip.

"I saw my uncle and his son ripped into pieces and saw their funeral. I saw my mother, father and brothers and sisters while they were crying and shouting," he said.

"We were all sleeping in one room. We did not move in the halls of the house. We used to wake up every night because of the sounds of shooting and shelling. The windows of our house were broken by the shelling," he added.

'They want us to be illiterate'

Safiyah Al-Masri, 11, described to Ma’an how her school was shelled.

"They shelled our schools because they wanted us to be illiterate so that we will not know our rights and so that we will not know who our really enemy is."

She said the shelling would not stop her from studying.

"We will learn and study and will not give up our rights to residency and education. We are learning to know how to defend our rights," she said.

Psychological specialists say that because of the violence they were exposed to, many Gazan children show signs of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other mental health issues.

The after effects of trauma include physical, behavioral and psychological symptoms, including sleep disorders, anxiety, and nightmares.