The silent children of Gaza: Trauma of war erases their voices

In Gaza, silence has become the only language for thousands of children who survived the genocide, yet could not escape its psychological aftermath.

In recent months, international and local organizations have recorded a rise in children losing the ability to speak — not due to physical injuries, but as a result of the unbearable psychological trauma of war.

According to a report by the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP), an increasing number of children display severe post-traumatic symptoms, including chronic nightmares, extreme sensitivity to loud noises, and bedwetting. Many of them remain completely silent despite having no damage to their vocal cords.

Doctors describe this condition as trauma-induced mutism, a psychological disorder in which extreme fear or shock suppresses a child’s voice, forcing them to communicate through gestures, eye contact, or repetitive movements instead of speech.

Yasser Abu Jame’, director of GCMHP, stated: “Psychological exhaustion has spread across Gaza. Medical teams work under conditions of destruction that make continued treatment nearly impossible.”

A doctor from Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) vividly described the situation: “A child in Gaza does not live with the memory of a single airstrike — they live in anticipation of the next attack.”

A speech and language specialist confirmed that reports from UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO) have documented cases of stuttering and loss of speech directly linked to exposure to Israeli bombings.

“Children pulled from under the rubble no longer speak. Even adolescents struggle to form words, as if language itself has fractured under the weight of trauma,” the specialist said.

According to mental health surveys, over half of Gaza’s children already showed signs of post-traumatic stress disorder before the recent escalation. Experts now warn that these psychological wounds have developed into linguistic and emotional collapse, threatening an entire generation.

Therapists outside Gaza attempting remote interventions face major obstacles due to power cuts, communication outages, and ongoing bombardment.

One specialist revealed: “Volunteers in Jordan have tried to provide services to Gaza’s children, but constant shelling and the collapse of communication networks have made these efforts nearly impossible.”

The expert warned that experiences from Rwanda, Bosnia, and elsewhere show that if today’s children do not receive mental health care, untreated psychological trauma can persist across generations.

Despite the destruction, experts believe that immediate psychological response programs can still be implemented within Gaza. They propose mobile mental health units in refugee camps, child-centered play therapy, and structured speech exercises for children suffering from loss of speech, coordinated alongside international specialists via remote support programs.

One expert said: “The world must listen to Gaza’s silent children. They are not just victims of war — they are survivors who have lost their voices. Helping them speak again means helping them reclaim their humanity.”

Since October 2023, the Israeli regime, with support from the U.S. and Europe and in defiance of international requests and International Court of Justice orders to halt the attacks, has carried out a campaign of destruction across the Gaza Strip.

This genocide has killed or injured more than 238,000 Palestinians, most of whom are women and children. Over 11,000 remain missing, while famine, displacement, and near-total destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure have wiped entire neighborhoods off the map.