'A toy is not a luxury': How games and toys are helping children in Gaza process 'unimaginable' trauma

In a war zone, a toy might seem like a luxury. Far from it.

“In a crisis situation, [people] sort of think about anything that’s recreational – say a small toy – as kind of more of a luxury item, but it’s not,” explains Helen Pattinson, the CEO of War Child. 

“It’s an essential part of being a child. We all know there’s a link between our psychological health and our physical health. If you give a child the ability to play, to do something, it literally changes what’s happening in their brain.”

The children of Gaza have endured unimaginable suffering over the last 15 months of war. An estimated 17,400 children have been killed – one every 30 or so minutes. Roughly one in 10 have been maimed or injured, while more than 17,000 others have been orphaned or have found themselves unaccompanied.

• ‘I lost everything imaginable’: Women in Gaza recall how a year of war has upended their lives
• ‘The children have seen so much blood’: As calls for a ceasefire grow even louder – what’s next for Gaza?

Such relentless violence has compounded the existing trauma of Gaza’s youth. Even before the current war, depression, fear and grief were everyday emotions for four in five children in the strip. In 2020, researchers estimated that some 53% of children in the occupied territories already had complex PTSD, a result of repeated cycles of violence and threats.

“I think it’s important to remember that in Gaza, it’s not the case that children’s trauma started in October last year,” Pattinson says. 

“As to specifically what that looks like – in younger children, you would have children that wet the bed, you would have children that are selectively mute. You would have children that haven’t got the capacity to learn. As children get older, you would have agitated feelings, you would have violence, you would have depression, you would have suicidal feelings or suicidal tendencies. And you would have a lack of hope.”

The war has only compounded this grim reality. According to a new study of the region’s children, 96% of kids feel that their death is “imminent” – and 49% actually wished to die. The startling needs assessment, carried out by a Gaza-based NGO sponsored by the War Child Alliance charity, also found that 92% of the children in the survey were “not accepting of reality” and high incidences of nightmares (79%) and aggression (73%).

But “there are things that can be done,” Pattinson insists. Across Gaza, War Child runs activities to help children process trauma and build resilience, including creative sessions and specialist mental health services.  

One of their most powerful interventions is the ‘TeamUp’ programme. These play and movement-based sessions – developed by Save the Children, UNICEF the Netherlands and War Child – are scientifically proven to help kids deal with trauma. 

“You can run some structured psychosocial activities to help those children move, communicate, engage, essentially, to be a child. Throwing a ball, playing games, call and response,” Pattinson said.

“You see children smiling, playing, interacting. They can forget for a little while what is happening. Children are amazing at seeking out hope and joy and opportunity.”

War Child has so far reached more than 180,000 children across the Gaza strip, cooperating with organisations including UNICEF, Save the Children, and The International Rescue Committee (IRC).

Child-friendly spaces in camps can give children a few hours of “normalcy”, says Bart Witteveen, the IRC country director for the occupied Palestinian territory.

“These kids can’t be shielded from the noise. The bombs keep dropping,” he told Big Issue. “But at least they can try to be normal for a few hours a day.”

The entire strip, essentially, is a war zone. That makes it very hard for these charities to operate; the aid restrictions, for example, are having a huge impact. “It’s very, very hard to treat a traumatised child if they haven’t eaten for five days,” Pattinson adds.

Charities provides nutritional supplements where they can – but a ceasefire and a relaxation of the stringent aid rules is “urgent”. 

“We will advocate for a ceasefire very, very clearly, because we know that is the best thing for children, for all children, wherever they live in the Middle East, whatever side of the Gaza wall they’re on,” Pattinson said. 

“But until then we’ll carry on doing the best that we possibly can in the circumstances that we find ourselves in… we owe it to those children.”

Both War Child and the International Rescue Committee are running winter appeal campaigns.

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