Gaza faces deepening mental crisis

Mental-health specialists in Gaza warn of a mounting psychological crisis after nearly two years of heavy Israeli bombardment and repeated incursions, with a surge in patients seeking care since the recent truce. Local health authorities say more than 68,000 people have been killed and 2.3 million residents affected by widespread destruction, homelessness and hunger. Clinics and hospitals, many damaged or only partially functional, report sharply increased demand for mental-health services and long-term rehabilitation.

At a Palestinian Red Crescent centre in Khan Younis, staff describe children experiencing night terrors, bed-wetting, inability to concentrate and developmental regression. Gaza City’s main mental-health team, displaced from its damaged hospital to a nearby clinic, reports daily caseloads exceeding 100 patients and says stigma around seeking psychological help has largely disappeared. Limited space and resources force clinicians to share rooms, constraining private consultations.

The recent ceasefire has allowed many displaced Palestinians to return to ruined homes and eased frontline fighting in some areas, while intermittent strikes continue: Palestinian authorities report dozens killed in post-truce strikes, and Israel says its forces have also suffered fatalities while targeting fighters. Health officials and international agencies warn that the humanitarian health crisis extends beyond immediate trauma: dialysis centres, cancer treatment units and chronic-care services have been severely disrupted, with more than 400 dialysis patients reported dead amid equipment shortages and reduced sessions.

World Health Organization analyses and local assessments highlight vast unmet rehabilitation needs—tens of thousands require long-term care after major injuries—and show fewer than half of Gaza’s hospitals are even partially functional due to damage, fuel shortages and staff constraints. The convergence of physical injury, displacement, hunger, interrupted schooling and ongoing insecurity has left a generation facing both visible and invisible wounds.

Medical staff and health agencies urge urgent action to scale up psychological services, expand rehabilitation capacity, secure medical supply lines and rebuild health infrastructure alongside any reconstruction effort. Without sustained investment and access to care, they warn, the mental- and physical-health consequences of the conflict will persist for years, possibly decades, after active hostilities subside.