The Children of Gaza: Bombing ends, trauma persists

When an Israeli air strike targeted a security office near her home in Gaza this month, 10-year-old Zeina Dabous frantically scribbled a note and slipped it under her mother's pillow. 

"Mummy, my love, I am very very scared. If we all die, put us in the same grave all together so I can stay in your arms," she wrote.

"I want to wear my Eid clothes," she added, of the outfit she never got to wear for the Muslim celebration after Israeli air strikes on the Palestinian enclave started on May 10.

Though a ceasefire has since Friday halted the 11-day air raids, experts warn that children in the besieged coastal strip will likely carry the mental scars for years to come.

Psychologists say many are showing signs of depression, anxiety, behavioural disorders or irritability, and many are wetting their bed.

At home in Gaza city just before the bombing stopped, Zeina said she was constantly petrified and barely sleeping.

"They're always bombing," she told AFP.

Zeina is one of around a million children living in Gaza, according to the UN's children agency UNICEF.

Israeli strikes on Gaza killed 248 Palestinians, including 66 children, and have wounded another 1,900 people, the Gaza health ministry says.

Israeli air strikes also pounded the densely populated enclave in 2008-2009, 2012 and 2014.

When the last war raged, Zeina was no older than four.

"A whole generation of children has been ravaged by repeated conflicts," said Zeina's grandfather, Saeed Dabous.

The charity Save the Children on Friday warned that children in Gaza would suffer for years to come.

They "are suffering from fear and anxiety, a lack of sleep, and are displaying worrying signs of distress, such as constant shaking and bedwetting," it said.

There is no overall tally of how many children are suffering from mental health issues in Gaza due to repeated conflict, Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP) says.But it said it records hundreds of new cases a month.

Psychologist Mohammed Abu Sabeh said children exposed to "great trauma" often then exhibit "violent behavioural disorders".

"The wars are sowing violence in schools and homes," he said.

Most children in the Gaza Strip suffer from "depression, anxiety or a behavioural disorder", and "a catastrophic number" of them need treatment.

"I'm not optimistic," Abu Sabeh said.

"This war will create an aggressive, violent and hateful generation."