Three million Israelis suffering from trauma since October 7 op, subsequent Gaza genocide

A new report has revealed that approximately three million Israeli settlers had experienced anxiety, depression and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the aftermath of Operation al-Aqsa Flood by Palestinian resistance groups on October 7, 2023, and subsequent genocidal war on Gaza.

The report, compiled by Israeli comptroller Matanyahu Engelman and released on Tuesday, stated that the Israeli mental health system, which had difficulty functioning even before the historic event, collapsed in the first days of the Hamas-led operation.

It noted that in the six months following the surprise and large-scale attack, only about 0.6 percent of the population received mental health treatment through health management organizations (HMOs) and resilience centers, even though 38% of the population reported moderate to severe symptoms.

“I warned about the failures in the field of mental health care in a letter to the prime minister about a month after the operation,” Engelman wrote, “but all the deficiencies have yet to be fully corrected.”

According to the findings of the report, an estimated 580,000 Israeli settlers suffer from at least one symptom of PTSD at a severe level as a direct consequence of the incidents of October 7 and their aftermath.

Over 40,000 Israeli settlers left occupied territories this year, never came back: Israeli media

Figures show that the number of people who permanently left Israel had a dramatic surge.

Engelman said he presented his first findings to prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu on November 13, 2023, after visiting conflict zones in the southern and northern flanks of the occupied lands.

He took a swipe at Israeli Health Minister Uriel Buso and ministry Director-General Moshe Bar Siman-Tov for not updating the mental health system’s preparations, despite an emergency management authority assessment that was first published in 2001.

Of the comptroller’s sample of 1,010 adults, one-third of the participants reported moderate or severe post-traumatic stress disorder or depression symptoms. About one-fifth reported anxiety symptoms.

The survey predicts that approximately 900,000 people will seek help for mental health issues in the future.

Broken healthcare system

Engelman noted that because of a shortage of manpower, the treatment offered by the HMOs and resilience centers is not sufficient to meet demand.

Backed by the United States and its Western allies, Israel launched the war on Gaza, after Hamas and other Gaza-based Palestinian resistance movements carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against the Israeli regime in response to its decades-long campaign of oppression against Palestinians.

Israel's genocidal war on Gaza has led to the death of at least 48,219 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injury of 111,665 others since early October 2023.

A ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement went into effect in Gaza on January 19, halting Israel's aggressive campaign against the coastal region.

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