Psyches scarred by constant trauma from Hamas rockets

PSYCHIATRIST Adriana Katz is describing the various traumas of living under rocket fire when she suddenly comes up with a phrase that captures it all: the Qassam Generation. Qassams are the rockets most commonly fired from the Gaza Strip into Israel. 

Today, Katz is talking about the children of Sderot, a town which over the past week has come under fire as southern Israel has been showered with rockets from fresh hostilities between Israel and Gaza militants.

The conflict, she says, has produced a generation of children who know life only under constant threat. "You cannot overcome that fear," says Katz, referring to the panic when Sderot's early-warning system sounds, giving 15 seconds to make it to a shelter. Katz talks about mothers so panicked they run to a shelter without their children.

She talks about children who, when they see their parents running, believe they cannot protect them, leading to "a loss of faith". She talks about how families become divided because the traditional roles of parents as protectors are eroded. "I call it the Qassam Generation. There are children who were born into this situation; there are children who don't know what it's like to play under the sun without being scared."

This week, in just three days, 124 rockets were fired into Israel. Sderot is now bracing for a new barrage following Israel's assassination this week of Hamas commander Ahmed Jabari. The recent rockets are the escalation of a conflict that has seen thousands of rockets fired into Israel over 12 years. Many rockets are homemade and go wildly off course. The Israeli Defence Forces estimate that 10-15 per cent misfire in Gaza itself.

The effects of the attacks are psychological as much as physical. Katz runs Sderot's mental health centre, which treats about 6000 of the town's 24,000 people. While one in four residents is being treated, Katz says many have not come forward. 

Post-traumatic stress disorder is the most common problem, although Katz seems wary of the term. "There's no post-trauma," she says. "Just trauma, trauma, trauma." Depression, panic and anxiety abound, she says, as well as dysfunctional relationships with parents, regression, children sleeping with parents and wetting their beds for longer than normal.

"There are children and some of the older generation who never leave the shelter room," says Katz.  As the closest town to Gaza - one kilometre from the border - Sderot often bears the brunt of attacks. It's an easy target for militants firing homemade rockets made from metal tubes.

Driving around Sderot, one is struck by the number of bomb shelters. Measuring about 2.5m by 1.5m, they are next to bus stops and throughout neighbourhoods.  The Shikmim Primary School displays the effects of the attacks. In the playgrounds, bomb shelters are painted with murals to try to make them look less foreboding. A few months ago, it sustained a direct hit - fortunately the school, which like every building in Sderot has been fortified, was empty at the time.

But the mark left by the rocket will say more to these children about the nature of life in Sderot than the playful murals. Touring the border this week, Inquirer went up a hill from which you can look into Gaza. Two Israeli surveillance balloons hovered overhead.

"Most of the rockets are fired when there are no personnel near the rocket," says Lieutenant Colonel Noyman, who oversees civilian needs in Sderot.  "They use timers and firing holes buried in the ground to launch the rockets, which are often located in backyards, schools or even mosques."

The rockets range from homemade Qassams packed with screws and bolts to more sophisticated Grads. The Qassams have a blast radius of 60m and the Grads 150m. "Every organisation has its own rockets," Noyman says.

"They fire them in the mornings and evenings when children are coming home from school." Noyman says the rockets create havoc. "Imagine it's 11pm, you're in the shower, your wife is in another room, your children are in bed and the siren goes," he says.  "You've got 15 seconds to get everyone into a protected room."

Sderot resident Shenhav Benita, 25, is married to the local kebab restaurant manager. Eight months pregnant with her first baby, she is "very scared" about raising a child here.  "I met one teacher, she was pregnant and a bomb fell right next to her," she says. "She started to see blood and she lost her baby.

"When I'm home it's OK but otherwise it's very scary. I saw a lot of children running, screaming, afraid to sleep alone." Across the border, Hamas is engaged in a power struggle with five Salafist groups who believe Hamas is too moderate: Jund Ansar Allah, Jaish al-Umma, Jaish al-Islam, Ansar al-Sunnah and Tawhid wa Jihad. While Israel and Hamas periodically go to war, they are also able to make ceasefires. But the other groups usually refuse to abide by any agreement.

 

Says the IDF's Major Ayre Shalicar: "We usually know which terrorist organisation does what and when. But in the end Hamas is responsible for any terrorist activity emanating from the Gaza Strip because they are in charge."