"Recently, I was running down the street, carrying food for my friend in northern Gaza, with a tank speeding behind me like a predatory beast. The ground trembled under the weight of its treads, and my breath quickened in a race I could never win. My legs began to give out, the terror heavier than my ability to keep going. I felt myself surrendering to what I thought was my inevitable fate ... until I woke up."
"At first, the psychological reactions were acute but predictable - fear, panic, anxiety. Today, we have entered a stage of chronic trauma fatigue, where people live in a state of emotional numbness, loss of meaning, and internal fragmentation. People don't cry as they did in the early days; instead, they look at you with empty eyes, as if saying goodbye to life without leaving it. There is no expression of emotion. People unconsciously use defense mechanisms such as repression and isolation."
Nightmares, startle reactions, shaking, and racing hearts are common daily experiences after months under siege in Gaza. Acute reactions of fear, panic, and anxiety have evolved into chronic trauma fatigue marked by emotional numbness, loss of meaning, and internal fragmentation. Many people no longer cry and instead appear disconnected, with empty eyes and diminished emotional expression. Unconscious defense mechanisms such as repression and isolation are widespread. The psychological burden affects behavior, relationships, and the capacity to heal, producing a pervasive sense that death has become an accepted, normalized presence in life for many residents.
Read at Truthout
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