When War Ends, Does Childhood Begin Again?

The Psychological Experience of Children in Gaza During and After War

 Osama S.A. Hamdouna

Dean of the Faculty of Education, Al-Azhar University–Gaza

What Does It Mean for a Child to Grow Up in War?

What does it mean for a child to grow up in a place where bombing, fear, displacement, and loss become part of everyday life? For many children in Gaza, war has not been a short event. It has become a continuing reality that has affected homes, schools, families, relationships, and dreams.

Childhood normally needs a sense of safety, a place to return to, school, family support, play, and opportunities to learn. When these conditions are repeatedly disturbed, the effects may extend beyond the moments of direct danger. They can influence how a child understands safety, relationships, daily life, and the future.

A UNICEF assessment conducted in December 2025 and January 2026, covering 2,071 households with children across Gaza, described a crisis affecting several areas of children's lives, including mental health, education, protection, development, displacement, and access to basic services. (UNICEF, 2026)

When Fear Becomes Part of Everyday Life

Children do not respond to war in the same way. Some may show fear, sadness, sleep problems, difficulty concentrating, changes in behaviour, learning difficulties, increased dependence on adults, quietness, or anger. Recent research on children in Gaza has reported a high psychological burden associated with violence, displacement, and the loss of safety. At the same time, not every reaction to war is a mental disorder. (Latif et al., 2025)

A child who becomes afraid during an explosion is not necessarily “sick.” A child who cannot sleep because they are worried about the safety of their family cannot be fully understood without considering the situation around them.

The important question is therefore not only, “What symptoms does this child have?” It is also, “What is happening to this child, and what kind of environment is the child living in?”

The World Health Organization notes that emergencies can lead to psychological distress, including anxiety, sadness, sleep difficulties, and anger. Many people improve over time, while some need psychological support or specialized care. (WHO, 2025)

Understanding a child should begin with listening to the child's experience, not only with recording symptoms.

Are Symptoms Enough to Understand a Child’s Suffering?

Symptoms are important, but they do not tell the whole story. To understand a child's experience, we also need to ask what has happened to the child's home, family, school, relationships, and sense of safety.

Has the child lost a parent or another close person? Has the family been displaced more than once? Can the child attend school? Does the child have a safe place to play? Can the child imagine what life will be like next week or next month?

These questions are also part of psychology. A child does not live alone. Children live within families, communities, schools, relationships, and places. Their memories and expectations of the future are shaped by these environments.

For this reason, supporting children's mental health should not focus only on the individual child. Supportive families, schools, and communities are also important parts of recovery. (WHO & UNICEF, 2024)

When the War Ends, Do Its Effects End?

When bombing stops, schools may reopen, and reconstruction may begin. But the end of violence does not automatically mean a return to the life that existed before the war.

A home may have been destroyed. School may have changed. A friend or family member may have died. Parents may themselves need time to regain a sense of safety and stability. The child may therefore continue to live with uncertainty even after the immediate danger has decreased.

This means that an important question is not only, “Has the war stopped?” but also, “Does the child feel that life is safe and possible again?”

UNICEF has reported prolonged disruption to education in Gaza. Restoring learning and healthy development therefore requires sustained and targeted action. (UNICEF, 2026)

Rebuilding childhood means rebuilding the conditions that allow a child to be a child again.

From Helping Children Today to Building Tomorrow’s Society

Caring for children in Gaza today is not only about responding to the psychological effects of war. It is also about the future of society.

Today's children will become tomorrow's doctors, teachers, researchers, parents, professionals, and members of their communities. The way society supports them today may influence the society they help build in the future.

This raises an important question: How can we imagine the future of a society when many of its children have grown up with fear, loss, displacement, and instability?

This does not mean that all children will suffer in the same way, or that war experiences determine their future. Children differ in their responses and in their ability to adapt. Supportive relationships, education, safe environments, and opportunities for participation can help children develop and recover. (WHO, 2025)

This places responsibility at two levels. First, children need direct support: adults who listen to them, psychological and social support when needed, education, opportunities for play, and normal relationships with other children. Second, the environment around them must be rebuilt.

We cannot ask children to build a stable future if we do not provide an environment that helps them do so.

Investment in children is therefore both a humanitarian responsibility in the present and an investment in the future of society. Rebuilding schools, supporting families, creating safe places for learning and play, restoring social relationships, and providing appropriate psychological and social services are all part of rebuilding the future.

The World Health Organization and its partners have emphasized the importance of safe and supportive learning environments for children's mental health, learning, development, and social-emotional skills. (UNESCO, UNICEF, & WHO, 2026)

From Survival to the Recovery of Childhood

Children need more than survival. They need safety, stable family relationships, education, play, friendship, belonging, and spaces where they can express their feelings and experiences.

Schools can play an especially important role. They can provide daily structure, relationships with friends and teachers, opportunities for playing and learning, and a sense of belonging and hope. International guidance on education in emergencies recognizes the role of education in providing stability and supporting children's development. (UNESCO, UNICEF, & WHO, 2026)

Families are also central to recovery. Children are affected not only by what happens directly to them, but also by the emotional and social conditions around them. Supporting parents and caregivers is therefore part of supporting children.

Most importantly, children need to be listened to. They should not be seen only as victims or numbers. They are people with experiences, memories, fears, hopes, and different ways of adapting to what they have lived through.

Conclusion

When the war ends, does childhood begin again?

The end of war may be the beginning of recovery, but it does not automatically bring childhood back. Childhood can begin again when a child feels safe, has a stable place to live, can return to school, feels supported by family and friends, and is able to imagine the future.

The responsibility, therefore, is not only to ask, “How can we treat the effects of war?” We must also ask, “How can we rebuild the life that children need in order to grow?”

For the future of Gaza, one of the most important questions is: What kind of childhood do we want to build for the children of Gaza after the war?

We cannot erase what children have lived through. But we can work to ensure that war is not the only story they carry into their future. Helping children today means protecting childhood—and building the society of tomorrow.

References

Latif, S., Muaileq, E. A. A., Chaabo, H., Rashid, F., Kelly, M., Khatri, N., King, H. A., & Fournier, N. M. (2025). Cases of trauma due to war and violence among children in Gaza. Eastern Mediterranean Health Journal, 31(4), 210–215.

UNICEF. (2026). The Gaza Child-Focused Assessment: Insights from Gaza (December 2025–January 2026). UNICEF State of Palestine.

World Health Organization & UNICEF. (2024). Mental health of children and young people: Service guidance. World Health Organization.

World Health Organization. (2025). Mental health in emergencies.

UNESCO, UNICEF, & World Health Organization. (2026). Teaching with care: A practical guide for teachers to support mental health and well-being in schools.