It has been a year since the 51-day Gaza war that destroyed the Palestinian neighborhood happened. To commemorate the event, BBC's Chief International Correspondent, Lyse Doucet, headed a documentation. According to The JC.com, the programme documents the lives of Israelis and Gazan children during and after the war that occurred last summer.
In a report from Medecins Sans Frontieres, the Gaza war destroyed over 12,000 houses and more than 70 hospitals. The buildings that were damaged during the Israeli's attack were never rebuilt due to the continuous blockade of the Israeli military to Gaza. The same report disclosed that Israel is being cautious with building materials. They have put several restrictions for dual-purpose materials for fear that it will be used in building weapons against them.
Aside from the deteriorating buildings all over the area, hundreds of Palestinians, who need reconstructive surgeries and physical rehabilitation, were also left unattended. Another thing that time has never healed was the trauma and depression the war caused to the children.
RadioTimes reports that the war has changed the lifestyle of the children. They find it difficult to go to school and live the life of a normal child their age. The children were full of bitterness as one 12-year-old girl asks, "What does all this have to do with us?"
Another kid, 10-year-old Michal, believes that they should be left alone since they are in their home, where they are supposed to live. "We were just born into this. It's not because of us. It's not because of the kids in Gaza," she said.
While the war leaves some children depressed, confused and traumatized, it also sows grief, pain and hatred to some youngsters. One Palestinian girl said, "When we grow up, we're going to kill them," The Telegraph has learned.
The Telegraph compared the differences in lifestyle of Israeli and Gazan children. The former are fluent in speaking American-accented English and Hebrew, their kindergartens are well protected under concrete walls, they even have bombproof halls. On the other hand, the latter has gone through bomb attacks for years, they only played on carts pulled by donkeys and their parents cooked their food in open fire within their destructed homes
Despite the convenience Israeli children have over Gazan children, they were also affected by the war. A 13-year-old boy named Eilon continued to sleep in a bombproof room even after the attack has stopped. It was reported that Israeli homes are required to have a bombproof room, RadioTimes has learned.
Although war has caused several lives and grief and pain to survivors, it is not likely to end soon as Doucet said, "Every one of them we met spoke with certainty that there would be another war."
