UNICEF: All Children in Gaza Need Mental Health Support

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) stated today, Friday, that "its estimates indicate that 17,000 children in Gaza have become orphaned or separated from their families during the conflict, and it is believed that nearly all children in the sector need mental health support." The Director of Communications at the UNICEF office in the occupied Palestinian territories said: "Children are showing symptoms such as extremely high levels of continuous anxiety and loss of appetite. They are unable to sleep, or they experience emotional outbursts or panic every time they hear a bombing sound." He added: "Before this war, UNICEF already considered 500,000 children in need of mental health services and psychological support in Gaza. Today, our estimates indicate that nearly all children need this support, amounting to over one million children."