Nora Amod will not play in the alleyways of Shati Camp tonight. The shelling is constant and, although she knows that it is further away than it sounds, the eleven year old will instead spend the evening at her mother’s side, terrified. She refuses to go anywhere alone.

Nora attends the UNRWA’s Beach Elementary School in the centre of Shati Camp in the Gaza Strip, yet even here she does not feel safe as she sits there knowing how vulnerable to attacks her house is.

"In school I feel even more scared. Our teacher tries to calm us, but everyday as my teacher’s voice gets louder I get more worried. I pray to Allah that nothing will hit my home."
Fathiya Turmus is a year younger than Nora and in the third grade. She says: "my sister and I feel so scared when we hear the shelling; my youngest brother wakes every night screaming. I see strange and horrible forms in my dreams and I insist on sleeping next to my parents."

Nafida Abu Aser is the psychological councilor at Nora’s school. Nafida says that "we do our best to alleviate the children’s suffering through home visits and certain programmes within school." In spite of this she cannot overemphasise the detrimental effect that the continuous shelling of Gaza is having on the students’ educational achievement. The stress that the children are under manifests itself in numerous episodes of bedwetting and lack of concentration but these are only the most conspicuous consequences and it is impossible to assess the full extent of the trauma on these children.

The constant fear the children of Gaza labour under is compounded by the dire economic situation within the Strip. "Canteen sales have fallen by two-thirds", states Nafida. "That means that children go for five hours without food."

In Nora’s case there is no food at home either. "When I go home after school I don’t find anything to eat, we depend on our uncle to provide us with food". She does not remember having had a proper dinner in the last two years.

Nine year-old Mohammed Hussein is thankful that he has good neighbours, because they provide his family with lunch and his grandfather with dinner. "I don’t like going home" he says. "Our place is small with no room to play, so I prefer staying at school." Nights at home are even worse. While shelling surrounds him, Mohammed lies in a cold bed with no sheets.
Dr. Hassamien, Director of Emergency at the Ministry of Health says that it is possible for "more than 25 Palestinian children to have breakdowns in Northern Gaza in one week."

Ahmed Salem is an example of the children pushed to the limits and put most at risk. Looking far younger than his 10 years Ahmed sells anything he can to drivers in order to add a few shekels to the income of his 11 person family.

"I earn between 15-20 NIS daily," Ahmed explains. "Then I work for 2 hours in the afternoon in one of the bakeries in exchange for bread."

Naema Al-Madhoun is the headmistress of the Beach Camp School. She says that "in spite of the school’s efforts, its councilors and its psychological programmes, the economic situation is affecting the children’s lives."

To Naema one thing is paramount: "the need for psychological therapy has increased greatly over this last period," something that is clear from the stories of the Palestinian children who sleep and wake to the sound of the shells.