Yasser Abu Jamei, MD, MSc is the Director General of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme https://www.facebook.com/gcmhptested/ an NGO established by the late Eyad El-Sarraj in 1990 and, with its three community centers, is considered one of the key mental health services providers in the Gaza Strip. 

I am writing this letter looking at my terrified 6-year old son, who keeps putting his hands over his ears trying block the sounds of Israel’s bombardment, my two daughters, aged 13 and 10, and my wife. These faces show the anxiety of not knowing where they can be safe now. My two older sons, 16 and 15, sit stunned and silent and I know they are reliving the memories of the previous three offensives on Gaza Strip and the family members we lost. These are the feelings that every family in the Gaza strip are living through.

This week dozens of Palestinians, including nine children, have been killed by an Israeli bombing in Gaza. This tragic event comes as the latest in a series of escalating acts of violence during he month of Ramadan as Palestinian communities have been threatened with forced displacement and increasingly restrictive treatment, particularly in Jerusalem.

Over 80% of Palestinians rely on international aid for day-to-day survival, and with Palestinians being left out of Israel’s vaccination efforts, basic steps for protecting against the pandemic are out of reach for many families. AFSC's Mike Merryman-Lotze explains the situation, and shows some of the ways we're working to provide emergency assistance to Palestinians in need.

Under Israel’s prolonged military occupation, millions of Palestinians are denied their basic rights. Since 2000, more than 10,000 Palestinian children in the West Bank have been arrested and held in Israeli military detention, where their rights to protection and due process are systematically violated. And since 2006, at least 12,767 Palestinians, including 5,700 children, have lost their homes under Israeli policies that fuel forced displacement and home demolitions in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.