Mental health in Middle East conflict zones: How are people dealing with psychological fallout?

Zedan, a patient suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), is in medical consultation at the mental health centre of the Bajet Kandala camp for displaced Yazidis near Dohuk, northwest of the Iraqi capital. (File/AFP)
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Updated 15 July 2021
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Mental health in Middle East conflict zones: How are people dealing with psychological fallout?

  • Studies show high incidences of depression in Tunisia, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq
  • Almost 1 billion people worldwide live with a mental illness

ABU DHABI: Almost all 10 to 19-year-olds in the Gaza Strip are exhibiting symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) due to their exposure to security threats and violence, according to clinical psychologist Dr. Thoraiya Kanafani.

And a 2020 Arab youth survey found that nearly a third of all young people living in 15 countries in the region know at least one person suffering some form of mental illness.




Palestinian children carry household items they recovered from the rubble of a building, destroyed by Israeli strikes, in Beit Hanun in the northern Gaza Strip on May 21, 2021. (File/AFP)

Kanafani told Arab News that studies show high incidences of depression in Tunisia, Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq.

In the Gaza Strip, 97.5 percent of 10 to 19-year-olds have PTSD, a mental health condition that results from experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event.

The Palestinian crisis and other major events in the Middle East have caused an increase in mental illness.

Almost 1 billion people worldwide live with a mental illness, but more than 75 percent of those with psychological disorders fail to receive treatment, according to a 2021 World Bank report.




A Syrian man suffering from mental issues looks outside a window at al-Waalan special needs centre in northern town of Aldana near Syria's second largest city of Aleppo on February 14, 2019. (File/AFP)

“Every year, close to 3 million people die due to substance abuse. Every 40 seconds, a person dies by suicide. About 50 percent of mental health disorders start by the age of 14,” the organization said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said in a 2019 report that one person in five (20 percent) living in a conflict zone is estimated to have depression, anxiety, PTSD, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.

“Among people who have experienced war or other conflicts in the previous 10 years, one in 11 (9 percent) will have a moderate or severe mental disorder,” the WHO added.

In May, 11 Palestinian children, who were receiving trauma therapy, were killed in their homes by Israeli airstrikes.

Asked if seeking treatment while experiencing continued attacks in a conflict zone is still effective, Kanafani said: “Studies suggest that some type of intervention and treatment for children in war is effective to an extent, especially those that help children build coping skills.”




Palestinian children take part in a four-week summer activities programme organised by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) which include sports, games, music and crafts, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, on July 08, 2021. (File/AFP)

She added that children living under continued attacks develop a constant fear of violence and suffer from long-lasting anxieties as well as physiological responses to stress. It is beneficial to support their existing coping strategies and educate them on other tools that may help, she said.

In Yemen, about one in five people suffers from mental illness due to the long-running conflict in the country, according to a 2017 study by the Family Counselling and Development Foundation.

“Mental health care remains scarce in Yemen. Mental illness is stigmatized, and the proportion of psychiatrists per population is insufficient. Some of the few existing mental health services have even closed as a result of the pandemic,” ReliefWeb, a humanitarian information service provided by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said in a statement.




People displaced by conflict receive food aid in the Khokha district of Yemen's war-ravaged western province of Hodeida, on April 20, 2021. (File/AFP)

Yemen has the added difficulties of damaged infrastructure as a result of the civil war, Dr. Kirin Hilliar, assistant professor of psychology at Heriot-Watt University Dubai, told Arab News.

“Reports suggest that only 51 percent of all healthcare facilities in the country are fully functional,” she added. Hilliar further said there are limited mental health services — a stigma that is also evident in many countries in the region. 

The Syrian crisis has led to about 207,000 civilian casualties since the beginning of the conflict in 2011. About 25,000 of these were children, according to a 2021 report by Statista.




Syrian patients sit in a yard at a mental health clinic -- the sole such facility in the rebel-held north of Syria -- in the town of Azaz, near the border with Turkey, on July 6, 2017. (File/AFP)

Another 2017 report by the International Review of the Red Cross said over 2.4 million homes have been damaged, 67 percent of the industrial capacity has been destroyed, 45 percent of health centers are no longer functioning, and 30 percent of educational institutions have been demolished.

This has plunged 89 percent of Syrians into extreme poverty. This critical situation in the country has left those living through the crisis at high risk of psychological damage.

“In 2018, it was reported that only 80 psychiatrists were working in Syrian territories, and psychologists were not trained or licensed in the country. However, the WHO and other NGOs have helped in providing training to health professionals, so they feel more capable to provide psychiatric and psychological services to those in their communities,” Hilliar said.

Wars and extremist attacks in the region have affected not only those witnessing them, but also social media users who are being exposed to negative news every day.




 In this file illustration photo taken on April 7, 2021, a smart phone screen displays the logo of Facebook on a Facebook website background, in Arlington, Virginia. (File/AFP)

Reports of killings, torture and bombings are taking over social media. Users might not even notice how much negative information they consume daily and the effects of that on their mental health.

Referring to Palestine, Kanafani said social media has been an important tool for spreading awareness about the truth of what is happening there.

“The negative consequence for many individuals who are viewing all the content is survivor’s guilt as well as emotional fatigue. Viewers who do not live in Palestine are experiencing strong feelings of helplessness, injustice and frustration. The consistent nature of these feelings may lead to emotional burnout,” she added.

Hilliar said that it can be hard for many people to read and watch details of negative events happening around the world. This type of content can make people feel helpless after witnessing the suffering of others, she added.




A woman uses her mobile phone to check Facebook and other mobile apps in Yangon on February 4,2021. (File/AFP)

A 2020 report by Cleveland Clinic, a US academic medical center, said that social media “doom scrolling” can cause negative thoughts and mindset which can affect a person’s mental health.

“Consuming negative news has been linked in research with greater fear, stress, anxiety and sadness,” the report said.

Kanafani said that the Middle East lacks mental health funding, resources and workforce, while stigmatization and lack of proper awareness also leaves people reluctant to seek treatment.

The highest number of psychiatrists in the region, according to Kanafani, are found in Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Lebanon, with Saudi Arabia and the UAE following with less than five psychiatrists per 100,000 population.

“Positively, we are certainly seeing an increase in the provision of mental health facilities in the Middle East, though the rate of growth varies widely across different countries,” Hilliard said.

She added that the UAE, for example, is seeing an increase in mental health services.


Palestinian president, Gazans call on Leo XIV to pursue late pope’s ‘peace efforts’

Updated 09 May 2025
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Palestinian president, Gazans call on Leo XIV to pursue late pope’s ‘peace efforts’

  • Gaza’s Christians confident new pope will give importance to enclave’s peace
  • Hamas also looking forward to new pope's “his continuation of the late Pope’s path”

RAMALLAH, Palestinian Territories/CAIRO: Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, along with Gaza's Christians and Hamas leadership are calling on the new Pope Leo XIV to pursue the “peace efforts” of his predecessor Francis.
Abbas sent “best wishes for the success of Pope Leo XIV in the pursuit of his noble task and maintaining the legacy of the late Pope Francis,” said in a statement released by his office late Thursday after the Vatican announced the election of a new pope.

Cardinal Robert Prevost, a little known missionary from Chicago, was elected in a surprise choice to be the new head of the Catholic Church, becoming the first US pope and taking the name Leo XIV.

Abbas highlighted the “importance of the moral, religious and political role of the Vatican in the defense of just causes,” adding that “the Palestinian people and their right to liberty and independence” should be at the top.

In Gaza, the enclave’s tiny Christian community said that they were happy about the election of a new leader of the Catholic Church. They also expressed confidence he would give importance to the war-torn enclave like his predecessor Pope Francis did.

Members of the clergy hold mass for late Pope Francis at the Holy Family Church in Gaza City on April 21, 2025.

“We are happy about the election of the Pope ... We hope that his heart will remain with Gaza like Pope Francis,” George Antone, 44, head of the emergency committee at the Holy Family Church in Gaza, told Reuters.
The late Pope Francis, who campaigned for peace for the devastated enclave, called the church hours after the war in Gaza began in October 2023, the start of what the Vatican News Service would describe as a nightly routine throughout the war.
“We appeal to the new pope to look at Gaza through the eyes of Pope Francis and to feel it with the heart of Pope Francis. At the same time, we are confident that the new pope will give importance to Gaza and its peace,” Antone added.
War in Gaza erupted when Hamas militants launched an attack against southern Israel, in which 251 people were taken hostage and some 1,200 were killed, according to Israeli tallies.
Since the abductions, Israel has responded with an air and ground assault on Gaza that has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run health authorities there, and reduced much of Gaza to ruins.
Hamas, in a statement, congratulated Pope Leo saying that it looked forward to “his continuation of the late Pope’s path in supporting the oppressed and rejecting the genocide in Gaza.”
The Holy Family Church compound in Gaza houses 450 Christians as well as a shelter for the elderly and children that also accommodates 30 Muslims, Antone said.
Gaza’s 2.3 million population comprises an estimated 1,000 Christians, mostly Greek Orthodox.


UN Security Council urges halt to fighting in South Sudan

Updated 09 May 2025
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UN Security Council urges halt to fighting in South Sudan

UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council on Thursday urged an immediate halt to the fighting in South Sudan and renewed its peacekeeping mission in the warring country for another year.
The UNSC “demands all parties to the conflict and other armed actors to immediately end the fighting throughout South Sudan and engage in political dialogue,” the resolution read.
The text, which called for an end to violence against civilians and voiced concern over the use of barrel bombs, was adopted by 12 votes in favor while Russia, China, and Pakistan abstained.
Rights groups have recently sounded the alarm over the deadly use of the improvised and unguided explosives in the north of the country.
The young and impoverished nation has been wracked for years by insecurity and political instability.
But clashes in Upper Nile State between forces allied to President Salva Kiir and his rival, Vice President Riek Machar, have raised concerns over another civil war.
Thursday’s resolution also extended the UN’s peacekeeping mission, founded in 2011 to consolidate peace, until next April.
It also leaves open the possibility of “adjusting” the force and altering its mandate “based on security conditions on the ground.”
Acting US Ambassador Dorothy Shea said the international community should use the deployment as one tool to bring the country “back from the brink.”
Shea also said it would be “irresponsible” to continue funding preparations for elections after the country’s transitional leadership postponed any ballot by two years last September.


Morocco commutes sentence of detained former minister

Updated 08 May 2025
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Morocco commutes sentence of detained former minister

  • Mohammed Ziane was convicted on ‘embezzlement and squandering of public funds’
  • His sentence has been commuted from five to three years

RABAT: A Moroccan court has commuted the prison sentence of opposition figure and former Minister Mohammed Ziane from five to three years, his lawyer said on Thursday.

The former human rights minister had been detained since 2022 and served a three-year term in a different case.

Ziane, 82, the former president of the Rabat Bar Association, was convicted on “embezzlement and squandering of public funds,” said his son and lawyer, Ali Reda Ziane.

The charges relate to funds the Moroccan Liberal Party, or PML — of which Ziane was founder and chief — received during a 2015 electoral campaign.

He was sentenced to five years in prison in July last year.

Even with the court reducing his sentence late Wednesday, “it remains heavy,” said his lawyer. 

“He deserves to be acquitted because there was no embezzlement.”

The lawyer said whether the sentences in the two cases would be served concurrently or consecutively remained unclear.

Proceedings in the initial case followed an Interior Ministry complaint on seven counts, among them contempt of public officials and the judiciary, defamation, adultery, and sexual harassment.

But Ziane has alleged that he was detained “because of (his political) opinion.”

The opposition figure had become known in recent years for statements criticizing the authorities in Morocco, particularly the intelligence services.


A US-backed group seeks to take over Gaza aid distribution in a plan similar to Israel’s

Updated 08 May 2025
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A US-backed group seeks to take over Gaza aid distribution in a plan similar to Israel’s

  • The UN and aid groups have rejected Israel’s moves to control aid distribution
  • A US official confirmed the authenticity of the proposal and said the former director of the WFP, David Beasley, is the lead choice to run Gaza Humanitarian Foundation

TEL AVIV: A group of American security contractors, ex-military officers and humanitarian aid officials is proposing to take over the distribution of food and other supplies in Gaza based on plans similar to ones designed by Israel.
The Associated Press obtained a proposal from the newly created group, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, to implement a new aid distribution system supplanting the current one run by the UN and other international aid agencies. The UN and aid groups have rejected Israel’s moves to control aid distribution.
It was not immediately clear if the proposal from the new group, which is registered in Geneva, would ease those concerns.
Israel has blocked food, fuel, medicine and all other supplies from entering Gaza for 10 weeks, worsening a humanitarian crisis for 2.3 million Palestinians. It has said it won’t allow aid back in until a system is in place that gives it control over distribution.
The 14-page proposal circulated this week among aid groups and UN officials lays out plans similar to ones Israel has been discussing privately for weeks with international aid groups. The proposal reveals for the first time plans to create the foundation and names the people leading it.

A UN official said last week that Israel’s plans would “weaponize aid” by placing restrictions on who is eligible to receive it.
Aid workers have also criticized the plans, which would centralize distribution at four hubs under the protection of private security contractors. They say the plans could not possibly meet the needs of Gaza’s large and desperate population, and that they would forcibly displace large numbers of Palestinians by driving them to move nearer to the aid.
Under the new group’s proposal, Palestinians would receive pre-packaged rations, potable water, hygiene kits, blankets, and other supplies at the distribution hubs. The group said it wants to partner with the UN and international aid groups in handing out their supplies.
A US official confirmed the authenticity of the proposal and said the former director of the UN World Food Program, David Beasley, is the lead choice to run GHF. The proposal could still be revised and Beasley’s role is not confirmed, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to detail plans that have not been made public.
Beasley, a former governor of South Carolina, didn’t immediately respond to messages seeking comment.
Israel accuses Hamas and other militants of siphoning off large amounts of aid. The UN and aid workers deny there is significant diversion, saying the UN strictly monitors distribution.
When contacted Thursday for comment about GHF’s proposal, Israeli officials did not immediately respond.
The Trump administration supports the new group’s proposal, said a person involved in it. The person said GHF would work “within the confines” set by Israel on aid but would be “independent and committed to humanitarian principles” — a nod to UN concerns. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a plan not yet made public.
“This is a new approach with one focus: Get help to people. Right now,” said US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce.
Ahead of his first trip to the Middle East this week, US President Donald Trump said “a lot of talk” was going on about Gaza and that his administration will soon have more to say about a new proposal. This may include a new push for a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, the release of hostages and an influx of aid to Palestinians.
Who’s involved?
GHF’s proposal names a 10-member leadership team that includes former senior American military officers, business executives and officials from aid groups. At least two of them have ties to private security companies.
Beasley is listed among them, but the proposal says his role is still “to be finalized.” Beasley is also a senior adviser to Fogbow, a private US firm that participated in the short-lived project delivering aid to Gaza by sea via a US military-built pier.
The AP contacted people listed in the proposal to confirm their participation. Only one responded, saying he was “not on the board.” The person involved in planning said the list was still in flux.

How would it work?
According to the proposal, GHF would initially set up four distribution sites, each serving 300,000 people. That would cover about half of Gaza’s population. The system would be scaled up to meet the needs of 2 million people. But the proposal does not give a timeframe. Aid workers warn that food is rapidly running out in Gaza under Israel’s blockade.
The GHF proposal said subcontractors will use armored vehicles to transport supplies from the Gaza border to distribution sites, where they will also provide security. It said the aim is to deter criminal gangs or militants from redirecting aid.
It did not specify who would provide security but said it could include personnel who previously worked in the Netzarim Corridor, an Israeli-held zone cutting off northern Gaza. A private security company, Safe Reach Solutions, has operated in the corridor.
GHF said people will get assistance based on need with no eligibility requirements. This appears to differ from proposals floated by Israel. Aid workers say Israel has said it intends to vet aid recipients and screen them using facial recognition.
What do aid groups say?
Throughout Israel’s campaign in Gaza, the UN and other humanitarian groups have been carrying out a massive aid program. They have trucked in supplies and distributed them across the territory, going as close as possible to where Palestinians were located.
What has chiefly hampered the system, aid workers have said, are Israeli military operations and restrictions on movement, as well as the low amount of aid allowed to enter even before the blockade. Convoys have also been attacked by criminal groups stealing aid, and hungry Palestinians have sometimes taken supplies from trucks.
Aid workers contacted by the AP cast doubt whether GHF would meet humanitarian requirements for neutrality and independence.
Shaina Low, communications adviser for Norwegian Refugee Council, one of the main organizations in Gaza, said aid groups are concerned the plan will be used “to advance military and political goals.”
By forcing the population to relocate around aid hubs, the system would “depopulate entire parts of Gaza” and could be used to potentially expel the population, she said.
“They are framing (the plan) to fix the problem that doesn’t really exist,” she said, referring to Israel’s contention that it must prevent Hamas from taking aid.
The use of private security companies has also alarmed humanitarian workers. While it’s common for private security firms to operate in conflict zones, they have to respect humanitarian law and at a minimum be fully vetted and monitored, said Jamie Williamson, executive director for the International Code of Conduct Association.
Tamara Alrifai, communications director for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, which has led the aid effort it Gaza, said the plan was logistically unworkable.
She said the foundation does not appear able to match the current infrastructure needed to distribute food and address other humanitarian needs.
Alrifai called it “a very dangerous precedent” for countries to use “full siege as a tactic of war” to force the abandonment of “existing aid structures and the entire international system that exists and is recognized and start creating a new system.”


South Sudan clashes stopping aid reaching 60,000 malnourished children: UN

Updated 08 May 2025
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South Sudan clashes stopping aid reaching 60,000 malnourished children: UN

NAIROBI: Intense fighting in South Sudan has prevented desperately needed food from reaching some 60,000 malnourished children for almost a month, the UN said on Thursday.

South Sudan has been wracked for years by insecurity and political instability, but recent clashes in Upper Nile State between forces allied to President Salva Kiir and his rival, Vice President Riek Machar, have alarmed observers.

In a joint statement, the World Food Programme and the UN children’s agency, UNICEF, warned that escalating fighting along the White Nile river — a major transport route — has meant “no humanitarian supplies have reached the area in almost a month.”

The area in the north of the country already had “over 300,000 children affected by moderate or severe malnutrition in the past year” and was at “breaking point.”

“Every day makes a difference for a malnourished child in need of life saving treatment,” said WFP’s South Sudan representative, Mary-Ellen McGroarty.

The agencies said almost 2,000 cartons of lifesavingnutrition supplies had been stolen since the uptick in hostilities.

UNICEF representative Obia Achieng said there was an “unprecedented” break in supply lines due to the ongoing fighting, looting, and disruption of the river route.

“If this continues, we are in danger of simply running out of supplies in counties across the state by the end of May 2025, with potentially catastrophic results for the youngest, most vulnerable children,” Achieng said.

South Sudan has been unstable since gaining independence from Sudan in 2011.

Kiir and Machar fought a five-year civil war that cost some 400,000 lives, and was only ended by a power-sharing deal in 2018 that has almost entirely collapsed in recent months.