Opinion: Gaza can be healed, but not by the same hands that destroyed her

As I prepare to begin training Gaza’s doctors and mental health professionals in a World Health Organization initiative that aims to bridge the gap between mental health needs and available resources, I can’t help but ask: can the Palestinian enclave be healed?

Our goal is to strengthen Gaza’s shattered medical system by integrating mental health into primary care, and by empowering non-specialists to recognise and respond to psychological distress.

A ceasefire has been imposed after two years of Israel’s genocide. Gaza remains a land gasping for breath, its skyline broken, its soil layered with grief. 

Around $70bn is reportedly needed to rebuild the hospitals, homes, schools and other infrastructure crushed by repeated bombardments. But no economist can measure the invisible destruction: the psychological and moral disintegration of a society that has been dehumanised and starved of hope.

Read more: Gaza can be healed, but not by the same hands that destroyed her Opinion by Samah Jabr