Psychological Initiatives for Children in Gaza
At a time when bombs are falling on Gaza’s neighborhoods, and scenes of loss, displacement, and destruction continue, the voice of a forgotten truth rises again: the people of Gaza do not only need a roof to protect them; they also need someone to help repair what has been broken inside them.
Amid the battle, between the rubble of homes and hearts, crucial questions arise: What is the value of reconstruction if the human being remains broken from within? Why is psychological rehabilitation not considered a necessity, just like food, medicine, and emergency aid? And can we truly speak of “reconstruction” while psychological wounds continue to bleed without pause?
The Psychological Impact of the Ongoing War in Gaza on Civilians
The effects of war go far beyond physical destruction, leaving behind a collective psychological crisis that affects all segments of society. Civilians, especially children and women, live in an environment of chronic fear, anticipation, and continuous loss, leading to complex psychological disorders that are difficult to treat under blockade and limited resources.
Many residents of Gaza suffer from symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, including nightmares, panic attacks, and extreme alertness to any sudden sound, especially children who have directly experienced bombardment.
Feelings of hopelessness, loss of control over life, and helplessness in the face of ongoing violence deepen collective depression, particularly among survivors who have lost members of their families.
The longer the war continues, the more severe the psychological impact becomes, and the deeper the inner wounds grow. Recovery becomes more difficult and complex, as people do not get a real chance to heal; instead, trauma is repeated and becomes rooted in memory and behavior.
Psychological Rehabilitation Tools for Children and Displaced People in Gaza: A Humanitarian Necessity Beyond Relief
Amid the ongoing war on Gaza, support is no longer limited to securing food, medicine, and shelter. Psychological support for children and displaced people has become an urgent need that cannot be postponed.
Children make up nearly half of Gaza’s population, making them the most vulnerable group to psychological trauma. These children live in an environment filled with fear and continuous bombardment, alongside the loss of homes, family members, and safety. This threatens their psychological future and makes the rehabilitation of children in Gaza a true necessity to save what remains of their innocence and inner stability.
From here, a set of simple yet effective psychological tools has emerged. Specialists and humanitarian workers use them under extremely difficult conditions. These tools serve as alternatives to intensive professional therapy, while remaining suitable for the emergency environment in which displaced people live.
The Importance of Psychological Support for Children During War
Experiences from wars around the world show that the effects of psychological trauma can last for many years and leave deep scars on children. In Gaza, these effects are multiplied due to repeated displacement, the loss of family members, and the collapse of daily routines that are essential to a child’s psychological stability.
Psychological support here is not a luxury; it is a necessity to protect children from long-term problems such as:
- Anxiety and fear disorders.
- Nightmares and bedwetting.
- Loss of a sense of safety.
- Aggressive behavior or isolation.
- Learning and concentration difficulties.
- Psychological trauma among displaced children.
For this reason, psychological programs inside shelters in Gaza are among the most important elements of humanitarian response, especially as thousands of families have lost their safe spaces.
Drawing and Coloring: A Child’s Window to Express Feelings
Drawing and coloring are among the most widely used tools in psychological rehabilitation for children in Gaza. Children do not always have the language skills to express their fear and anxiety, but they can reflect their inner world through colors and symbols.
Why Is Drawing an Effective Tool?
Drawing helps release suppressed negative emotions. It also gives specialists a chance to understand the child’s condition without asking direct questions that may disturb them.
It reduces anxiety, gives the child a sense of control over their world, and provides a moment of calm amid ongoing chaos.
These activities are offered in schools that have turned into shelters and in tents hosting thousands of families. Despite the shortage of supplies, workers try to provide simple paper and colors, creating an important psychological outlet for children.
Group Play: Restoring a Sense of Belonging Despite Displacement
Displaced children experience a major loss of belonging after losing their homes, neighbors, and play spaces. This is where group games organized inside shelters and temporary centers become important.
Benefits of Group Play in a War Environment
Group play helps reduce stress and fear, strengthens social and communication skills, rebuilds trust and cooperation among children, and creates genuine moments of joy that are deeply needed amid pain.
These activities are supervised by specialists and volunteers who choose safe games suitable for crowded spaces. After several sessions, children often begin to regain some of their positive energy and their feeling that they are still children despite everything they are going through.
Interactive Stories: Symbolic Therapy for Fear and Trauma
Interactive stories are considered one of the tools of initial psychological support for children because they open the door to dialogue in an indirect way. When a child hears a story about fear, courage, or losing a home, they feel that their emotions are understood and valid.
How Do Stories Help in Healing?
Stories give children the ability to express themselves through characters. They also build early psychological resilience in the face of trauma, help children understand their feelings and connect them to events, and reduce fear of the unknown through symbolic examples close to their reality.
Simple handmade dolls are often used to capture children’s attention and give them a sense of safety during the session.
Psychological First Aid Sessions: Quick Calming in a Dangerous Environment
These sessions represent an early stage of mental health and psychosocial support in Gaza. They are carried out by trained specialists who know how to work with children in emergencies.
What Do These Sessions Include?
They include calming and reassuring the child using a gentle voice and simple language, explaining what is happening in a non-frightening way, helping the child regulate breathing and reduce stress, encouraging expression without pressure, and using safe physical contact, such as a comforting hug.
Children in Gaza need this type of session almost daily because of repeated trauma, ongoing bombardment, and the lack of safety everywhere.
Training Parents in Psychological Containment
A child cannot be separated from their environment. Therefore, specialists train parents on how to provide psychological support to their children during war, despite the harsh conditions that parents themselves are experiencing.
Key Guidance Given to Parents
Parents are advised to avoid constantly talking about danger and death in front of children, try to create a simple routine such as a fixed time for sleep or play, maintain a calm tone of voice, offer love and verbal and physical reassurance, allow the child to talk about fear without mocking them, and avoid involving the child in painful details they cannot handle.
This training is an essential element in protecting children from long-term psychological trauma.
Safe Corners Inside Shelters: A Small Space with a Big Impact
Despite the overcrowding of shelters with displaced families, some humanitarian organizations allocate small corners as alternative spaces for children suffering from psychological distress.
Features of These Corners
These corners offer a calm atmosphere, comforting colors, simple toys, drawing tools, and a place where children feel privacy and reassurance. They also provide an environment suitable for individual or group psychological sessions.
These small spaces become a refuge for children and give them a sense of stability in a reality full of fear and noise.
Challenges Facing Psychological Rehabilitation in Gaza
Implementing these tools is not easy at all. Field workers face extremely dangerous conditions, including continued bombardment, repeated displacement of families and specialists themselves, power and water outages, a shortage of basic psychological support tools, overcrowded shelters, and difficulty reaching children.
Yet they continue their work every day, driven by the belief that delaying psychological intervention may leave an impact that lasts a lifetime.
After the War: Rebuilding the Human Being Before the Place
The bombing may stop one day, but psychological pain does not end simply because the war ends. Gaza’s children need long-term rehabilitation programs and a safe environment that allows them to reclaim their childhood.
True reconstruction begins inside the human being — with mental health and the ability to rise again. Gaza’s future is not built with cement alone, but by rebuilding generations capable of healing, and by protecting children’s right to heal their inner wounds instead of leaving them to be forgotten.
