The Impact of Ongoing Conflict on Children in Gaza's Mental Health w/ Ritesh Shah: 22 November, 2023

Since October, the Gaza Strip has been experiencing one of the largest escalations of violence it has seen in years, with the death toll of civilians killed by Israeli airstrikes surpassing 13,000 as of 22 November.

UNICEF have described the conflict as a humanitarian crisis that will cause lifelong psychological trauma for Gaza's children.

Senior Lecturer in Comparative and International Education at the University of Auckland, Dr Ritesh Shah, published a report in January in collaboration with the Norwegian Refugee Council, detailing the impacts of the Israeli occupation of Gaza, the West Bank, and East-Jerusalem on the optimism and mental health of Palestinian children, prior to 7 October, with a particular focus on the role of education and the impact of COVID-19 and home-based learning on their wellbeing.

Oto spoke to Dr Shah about his research in the occupied Palestinian territories, the state of Palestinian children's mental health, and measures introduced by NGOs and the UN to create safer learning and working environments for Palestinian students and teachers.