Our life stops’: West Bank childhood shattered by Israeli military raids | Israel-Palestine conflict News
Bethlehem, occupied West Bank – In the Dheisheh refugee camp, three children are engaged in a discussion about their experiences with the Israeli military, each competing to share their story. Fourteen-year-old Yanal, proficient in Arabic, English, and Spanish, claims the lead by opting to communicate his experience in English.
“Life in the camp is complex,” he states, highlighting the lack of escape routes during military incursions. He recounts a vivid memory of a football match interrupted by soldiers, emphasizing the confinement he felt at that moment.
Thirteen-year-old Mustafa Abu Aliyah shares an alternative perspective, recalling a military raid he encountered while heading to his grandfather’s house, during which the army deployed live ammunition and tear gas. “We were in the middle of the fire,” he says, reflecting the chaos of the encounter.
His twelve-year-old sister, Diyar, recalls being interrupted in the middle of a piano lesson due to a military presence. “Whenever the army comes, there will be tear gas. People will be beaten. There’s usually someone injured or killed,” she notes. Comparing her situation to children in other countries, she expresses a longing for safety, stating, “We can’t even leave our front door without suffering.”
The frequency of these military raids is such that the children struggle to remember specific dates. However, they vividly recall the fear incited by the soldiers’ actions. In the first nine months of 2025, Israeli forces conducted nearly 7,500 raids across the occupied West Bank, averaging 27 per day, marking a 37 percent increase from the same period in 2024.
Report Highlights Concerns Over Child Safety
The experiences of children in Dheisheh reflect broader concerns documented in a recent report by the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The report, titled “The Essence of Childhood Has Been Destroyed,” evaluates the impact of Israeli military actions on Palestinian children since October 2023.
The troubling findings indicate that Israeli forces have killed at least 20,179 Palestinian children and wounded over 44,000, primarily in Gaza. The report characterizes the targeting of children as part of a broader campaign of violence.
It also details alarming trends, including an increase in settler violence against children and a rise in extrajudicial killings by Israeli forces, such as the death of a two-year-old girl in January 2025. Additionally, it notes that children are often detained without legal representation or parental notification, contributing to long-term trauma.
Psychological Impact of Constant Fear
The UN commission argues that the Palestinian population lives in a state of “diffused, ambient terror” that continues to affect daily life. Lemis Farraj, a psychologist and project coordinator at Shorouq Center in Dheisheh, stresses that a child’s physical and mental health are interconnected.
She explains that the term “continuous traumatic stress” applies here, driven not by a single incident but by ongoing military actions and the anxiety surrounding potential future raids. Diyar articulates the disruption caused by military incursions, saying, “When the army comes to my neighborhood, I have to stay home and wait. Our life stops.”
Mustafa notes a desensitization to the fear, stating, “When I see the army, I stop being afraid.” Farraj has observed similar reactions among younger children, indicating a loss of previously acquired skills due to ongoing exposure to violence and trauma.
Five-year-old Khour Hammad, who lives nearby, shares her own distressing experiences. Both of her parents have been arrested by Israeli forces—her father in July 2023 and her mother in March 2024. She recalls the night her mother was taken, mistaking soldiers for her father upon hearing a man’s voice in the house.
Generation of Trauma
The UN report notes the generational aspect of trauma experienced by Palestinian children. Farraj explains how children are not only affected by their own experiences but also inherit trauma from previous generations, particularly those who lived through the Nakba in 1948 when many Palestinians were displaced.
Approximately one in four Palestinians in the West Bank are refugees, while about 70 percent in Gaza are from refugee backgrounds. The ongoing cycle of violence and displacement amplifies the trauma felt across generations.
Farraj emphasizes that recovery from trauma relies on stability and support, which remain elusive under the current occupation. For Khour, that stability hinges on the return of her parents. “I want the whole world to listen and see my picture,” she asserts, calling for their release from prison.
