UNRWA Warns of Mental Health Crisis

UN: Zionist Demolitions Displaced Scores of Palestinians in Past Two Weeks

Date: 24 May 2023 - 23:22

News ID: ۱۱۵۳۹۰

RIYADH (Dispatches) – The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, or OCHA, revealed that the Zionist regime has seized and demolished 42 buildings in the occupied West Bank over the past two weeks, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
The OCHA said that demolitions displaced 50 Palestinians, including 23 children, and impacted the livelihoods of more than 600 people.
The Palestinian Prisoners Club also reported the occupying regime has arrested 12 Palestinians as part of a large-scale raid campaign across the West Bank.
Meanwhile, the leading official at the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees has warned that Palestinian refugees in the Middle East are facing a rising mental health crisis, with women and children particularly vulnerable.
Akihiro Seita, UNRWA director of health, told a press conference at the UN offices in Geneva on Tuesday that the mental health crisis is one of several challenges facing the agency in the region.
Thousands of Palestinian refugees are vulnerable to mental health issues, especially those who live under Zionist occupation in the West Bank and are victims of Zionist strikes on Gaza.
He blamed worsening living conditions for the problem, adding that in 2021 more than 150,000 people had been treated for mental health conditions related to hardship in host countries, as well as in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories.
The following year, the number seen for mental health issues doubled.
Hardship and deteriorating living conditions have contributed to the mental health crisis, Seita said.
Seita said that women and children are most affected and vulnerable to mental and physical health issues facing Palestinian refugees.
Gender-based violence and the number of children who suffer from mental health problems are on the rise among the refugee population, he said
Seita said there are about 6 million Palestinian refugees living in Gaza, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.