The silent suffering of Gaza children who lost the ability to speak

The silent suffering of Gaza children who lost the ability to speak
Getty Images via BBC
Adam was a happy and talkative boy, but at the age of 5, he suddenly stopped interacting with the world.
His case is no exception. In the face of violence, destruction and death in Gaza, the response of some children to the overwhelming suffering has been to remain silent.
"There is no child in Gaza who is not traumatized," Katrin Glatz Brubakk told BBC News Mundo (BBC Spanish news service). "There are more than a million children who have suffered severe trauma."
The child psychotherapist from Norway undertook two missions to Gaza in 2024 and 2025 with the nonprofit Doctors Without Borders (MSF) to work with children who have lost the ability to speak.
It is not known for sure how many children in Gaza have stopped communicating, but Brubakk reports that he has found dozens of cases. And local doctors told Al Jazeera that this is a "growing number".
More than six months after the announcement of the ceasefire in Gaza, violence continues and "Israeli attacks continue routinely", declared in April the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk.
At least 846 people - including many women and children - have died in Gaza in Israeli attacks since the beginning of the ceasefire, according to the Ministry of Health local.
Israel, which justifies its attacks by the need to defend its troops and face the threat from Hamas militants, claims that five of its soldiers died in the same period.
Hamas and Israel accused each other of violating the ceasefire agreement.
Since October 2023 - after attacks by Palestinian militants on Israeli territory in which around 1,200 people died and more than 200 were taken hostage, according to Israeli authorities - Israeli forces have killed more than 20,000 children in Gaza and left more than 41,000 injured, according to Unicef.
In total, Israeli attacks have killed more than 72,000 people, most of them civilians, and injured more than 172,000, according to Gaza's health ministry.
BBC News Mundo spoke with Katrin Glatz Brubakk about the trauma that is causing Gaza's children to lose the ability to speak, the consequences on their brains and why the road to recovery sometimes begins with a first step: blowing soap bubbles.
Katrin Glatz Brubakk blows soap bubbles with 3-year-old Maria at Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza. "I call them bubbles of hope because they literally generate hope in these children."
MSF via BBC
BBC News World - Why are there children in Gaza who have stopped speaking?
Katrin Glatz Brubakk - When a child suffers severe trauma and lives in conditions of great uncertainty for a long time, as happens with children in Gaza, they fear for their own life, that of their family, friends and acquaintances. And in Gaza, children have been living like this for two and a half years. The level of stress and the impact on your nervous system is tremendous.
Every child's reaction is different. Some become very agitated or have trouble sleeping, get angry, scream; It is easy to detect this suffering. Others, on the other hand, block themselves completely. It's as if your nervous system is saying, "I can't take it anymore."
And the way to protect yourself is to withdraw. Language is part of this. For these children, it is a way of not interacting with this world that never stops making them suffer and inflicting pain on them. Thus, it is not a conscious choice, but a neurological response to extreme stress and trauma.
Katrin Glatz Brubakk carried out two missions to Gaza with the organization Doctors Without Borders. The child psychotherapist is a professor at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU)
MSF via BBC
BBC News World - It is difficult for many to understand the magnitude of what children in Gaza have experienced and are experiencing. Could you give us an idea of the extreme trauma they suffer?
Brubakk - There is no child in Gaza who is not traumatized. There are more than a million children who have suffered serious trauma. Of course there are differences, but they had to flee, they lost their homes, they all faced the impossibility of going to school because the schools are bombed.
They all lost someone, like family members, school friends, teachers, a neighbor. Many saw mutilated bodies and smelled the spilled blood. Some children told me they helped collect human remains or brain parts from the street. These are extreme traumas.
And this did not happen just once, but many times for the majority.
But in addition, they lost all sense of security. To develop well, children need to have a certain trust in the world: the belief that the world can be good, that people don't want to harm you. This feeling of security has completely disappeared due to the magnitude of the destruction, which affects absolutely everything in Gaza.
No child in Gaza can go to bed with the certainty that they will wake up the next day. They don't have a room they can go into, close the door and know that no one can reach them. So this war not only causes trauma, it affects your entire worldview.
BBC News World - Could you tell us about some of the children you treated in Gaza?
Brubakk - I would like to talk about Adam, a 5-year-old boy. He was a very lively, happy, talkative and active child. He loved being outdoors and playing. After war broke out in 2023, the family was forced to flee and move into a tent. His grandparents lived a little further away, also in a tent.
One day, Adam and his father wanted to visit his grandparents, in an area that had no evacuation order and was supposedly safe. But, without warning, a projectile hit very close to them and seriously injured Adam and his father. They were rushed to the hospital, but as often happens with these attacks, there are so many victims that if there are no free beds, many people are put on the floor.
Adam and his father were on the emergency room floor waiting to be evaluated when the boy saw and heard his father, at his side, taking his last breath. Adam was also seriously injured: he lost one leg and the other was injured.
After witnessing his father's death, the boy stopped speaking. Sometimes he managed to whisper a single word to his mother, but he didn't want to talk to anyone. I barely ate. He was a child in critical condition.
Katrin Glatz Brubakk states that, when faced with trauma, some children react by isolating themselves
Getty Images via BBC
BBCnews World - What consequences can these traumas leave in the future?
Brubakk - When a child like Adam stops interacting and speaking, he also stops developing. A 5 year old should practice their language skills with other children and adults to learn, practice problem solving, learn social norms through play. All of this is stopped. Language is a signal, but its development is completely halted.
What I've observed over and over is that if this situation goes on for a long time, it physically affects these children's brains. We know that in children who have suffered severe trauma, the amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for intense emotions, increases in size. This can be measured. It is greater in traumatized children.
And the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that develops later and is responsible for functions such as planning, problem solving, social interaction and emotional regulation, fundamental aspects of life, is underdeveloped. It is thinner and has fewer neuronal connections.
If a child remains in a state like Adam's, withdrawn, without development or language, if he is kept in this situation of extreme stress for a long time, he will have problems later in life. You will never recover.
The best example I have is my own brother. He was adopted in 1974, after the Vietnam War. He grew up the way children in Gaza grow now, with constant bombings, a lot of uncertainty and food shortages, which also affect brain development.
When my brother arrived with my family in Norway, although it was a safe place and he had access to all the food he needed, it took him years to stop hiding food behind books on the shelf, because he didn't feel safe.
This is what we call "cognitive injuries of war", invisible, which in many cases will follow these children, possibly, throughout their lives. life.
If the extreme stress situation persists for a long time, it physically affects children's brains
MSF via BBC
BBC News World - How did you try to help Adam?
Brubakk - Working in a context like Gaza, there are many things we cannot do. What these children really need is a safe place to live, a structured routine, being able to return to school and play without fear. But luckily, there are things we can do.
And the most important thing is that these children know that even though the whole world is not a safe place for them right now, there are small safe spaces. That there are people around them here and now who will support them. At first, Adam didn't want to talk to us, but we kept going to his room every day and talked to his mother.
We talked to her about the husband she had lost, but also about the good memories, about the dreams she had for the future, things that might give Adam a little hope that this wasn't the end, but that better times were coming.
And one day, when I was there, suddenly Adam whispered to his mother, "Make that woman go away, I don't like it. from her."
It was a rejection, but I was very, very happy, because it meant that Adam started to interact with what was going on around him. A few days later, he looked at me, something he hadn't done before.
It was just a moment, but I took advantage of the opportunity and said: "Wow, you have huge brown eyes! They're beautiful. Mine are totally different, they're blue. Have you seen them?" And that sparked the curiosity of that 5-year-old boy.
That was the beginning of how, little by little, we managed to get him to trust people, to talk to us briefly, to return to some normality, although not permanently, because he carries all these traumas.
BBC News World - Did you speak to Adam in Arabic or through an interpreter?
Brubakk - In Gaza there are many people with a lot of education. I spoke English with Adam's mother, she has a PhD in Physics. For the child there was an interpreter.
And I should add that when I work on projects like this, I lead a team of local psychologists and social workers. I contribute knowledge, but the main work, which continues afterwards, is carried out by our MSF team in the field.
Destruction in Gaza hospital.
Getty Images via BBC
BBC News World - At Nasser hospital you also worked with children with severe burns.
Brubakk - When a bomb explodes, it produces a huge heat wave that affects everyone nearby, and the largest age group we served were children aged 4 to 6 years. This is simply due to the fact that they are too big for their parents to carry when they are already carrying smaller children, but their legs are still too short to run fast enough. This shows that no child is safe in Gaza.
And the children are fully aware of this. Fear for one's life continues to be a daily reality for children in Gaza.
BBC news World - How do you manage to work with these children in a state of great physical suffering?
Brubakk - Burns are extremely painful. They are so painful that things as simple as changing bandages need to be done under anesthesia. Recovery is long, and when there is not enough food, it takes even longer, which means that children remain in this atrocious suffering for longer.
One of the girls who arrived at our department was Mona, 6 years old. He had burns all over his body. He had so many bandages that all we could see were his eyes and his nostrils.
In the beginning, everything revolved around the medical part, because we had to make sure he survived. So, I only got to meet Mona when they started to remove some bandages and I saw her face with many scars.
'When a bomb explodes, it produces a huge wave of heat... The main age group we treat for burns is children aged 4 to 6', says Brubakk
Getty Images via BBC
BBC News World - What had happened to Mona?
Brubakk - Her family was forced to move and initially lived in a tent. But then the bombings seemed to move to another area and they thought it was safe to return to their destroyed home.
Just two days after they returned to the house, a bomb hit the apartment. Two of her brothers died instantly, but the explosion set fire to a gas cylinder, which caused a widespread fire: the curtains, the sofa, the mattresses were on fire, and the three girls were in that room.
The father miraculously managed to get the three girls out of the apartment. Mona had burns all over her body; her older sister, who was in the next bed, also had burns and was in severe pain. Her middle sister was in intensive care because she inhaled a lot of hot air and also had internal burns.
So Mona was not only dealing with her own pain, but she was also worried about whether her sister would survive.
Mona's family was very supportive and she began to recover. And what really impresses me are these parents, not just Mona's, but so many children in Gaza, who see how their children suffer, how they are injured, how they themselves are traumatized by all the bombings, the death, the destruction, and yet they have the ability to offer these children exceptional care, warmth and love so that they can recover in the best possible way.
BBC News World - How were you able to help Mona?
Brubakk - One of the things I do when I work with children is play a lot, because play is the language of children. Through it, they learn practical skills, they learn to solve problems, to interact socially, to express their feelings.
And with Mona we start with soap bubbles. I call them "bubbles of hope" because they literally generate hope in these children. And what makes soap bubbles so fantastic is that, first of all, if you see some bubbles floating in the room, it's impossible not to look, because they attract attention.
They are beautiful. They calm down. And if I have a very excited child, I ask, "Do you see how many colors are in a single bubble?" Because, if you look closely, there are all the colors of the rainbow.
This helps the child to move from that state of stress to something calmer, softer, to change focus. Because trauma works in such a way that you get stuck in that state.
Another magical thing about soap bubbles is that if you want to have big bubbles, you need to blow as slowly as possible. Because if you blow quickly, you only get small bubbles or none at all. But if you blow slowly, you get nice bubbles. And breathing slowly and deeply calms the nervous system.
'If you want big bubbles, you need to blow as slowly as possible. And breathing slowly and deeply calms the nervous system'
MSF via BBC
BBC News World - What effect does this have on children's brains?
Brubakk - What I do is basically give the amygdala, the brain's alarm system, the chance to calm down. Thus, the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for problem solving and regulation, has the opportunity to develop better. Of course it doesn't solve the problem completely, but it gives these children a better chance of reducing the long-term effects of the cognitive damage they may suffer from war.
One day Mona said, "I'd like a princess house," and explained to me that she meant a doll's house. Of course you can't find this in Gaza, but I found cardboard, duct tape and some colors to paint, and together we built a house.
Mona wanted it to be on two floors and decorated it very well. She and her sister were playing with a dollhouse when the bomb fell.
And although it seems simple, this was the first time Mona was able to tell me what had happened and how worried she was about her sisters.
Only through play was he able to find the words to express himself. Thus, playing can be a way of processing trauma, of finding language for lived experiences.
BBC News World - Could you explain to us the concept you often use of "silent suffering"?
Brubakk - In a context like Gaza, everything is chaos. There's a lot of noise, children screaming with panic attacks, parents screaming worried about their children, people crying in pain.
It's easy to ignore children who suffer in silence, not because people don't care, but because there are too many things that demand attention and too few resources for everything that needs to be done. But a silent child who does not express his suffering, who does not ask for help, is also a child who suffers and needs as much attention as those who cry loudly.
Because otherwise, in the worst case scenario, they may remain in this silent suffering for a long time. I saw extreme cases, not in Gaza, but in Moria, the refugee camp in Greece.
It's a syndrome called "resignation syndrome", in which children completely block themselves. They stop talking, eating, they don't even open their eyes, they barely respond when you try to touch them.
And if they don't receive help, they will remain in this condition for years. That's why it's crucial that children like Adam and Mona can reintegrate into life.
Six-year-old Mona suffered serious burns. One day, she asked for a 'princess' house' and only by playing did she manage to find the words to express herself
Katrin Brubakk/MSF via BBC
BBC News World - You have been to many conflict zones. Why do you say Gaza compares to nothing?
Brubakk - I've worked over the last 12 years in the Congo, in Lebanon, in Egypt with traumatized refugees, on a rescue boat in the Mediterranean, in Turkey after a major earthquake.
But the level of trauma I've seen in Gaza and the level of destruction is simply incomparable to anything else I've seen in those 12 years. Absolutely everyone in Gaza is affected.
And there is no way out, there is no safe place to go. The entire territory is in pieces. And, in addition, the health system was systematically attacked, with hospitals bombed. [Israel justifies attacks on medical facilities by claiming that armed groups like Hamas use hospitals for military purposes].
BBC News World - Do you hope to return to Gaza? Israel has restricted access for aid agencies.
Brubakk - At the moment they won't let me in.
We have 1,600 local staff and I'm sure they are doing an incredible job, but the international team has not been allowed in since January 1st. I really hope this changes. If I could go to Gaza, I would go in a heartbeat; it's the only place I want to be.
Norwegian doctor says she wants to return to Gaza to continue helping
MSF via BBC
BBC News World - Children in Gaza continue to suffer violence. On April 9, for example, a 9-year-old girl, Ritaj Rihan, died, according to the UN, when Israeli forces opened fire on the tent housing her makeshift classroom. The other children in the class were witnesses. The Israeli Army told BBC News Mundo about the incident that "the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) work to dismantle Hamas' military capabilities" and "respect international law and take viable precautions to mitigate harm to the civilian population."
Brubakk - The only right thing and what the children of Gaza need now is for us to do everything possible, within our means, to provide them with true peace. Give them their lives back, give them the chance to live in safe places, to go to school.
That's the only way they can have a dignified future. And whether you are a politician, student or whatever, I would say: use your voice so that the pressure is enough and that peace finally comes to Gaza. Otherwise, we will be destroying an entire generation of children.
BBC News World - What led you to dedicate your life to children suffering traumatic circumstances?
Brubakk - I grew up listening to war stories all my life. My mother is German, born in 1942. When she was a child and the alarms went off, they took her to the cellar and she slept on sacks of potatoes. And she said that soldiers returned from the front without a leg or an arm.
For her it was really important to try to understand how a genocide could happen, how we could allow this. And he repeatedly stressed to us, his children, "never again", that something like this should never happen again.
And then I, of course, with my brother, saw up close the trauma and damage that war causes to a child. My work in Gaza is my version of "never again." No child should experience this trauma. It breaks my heart.
'For these children, stopping talking is a way of not interacting with this world that continues to make them suffer and inflict pain'
Katrin Brubakk/MSF via BBC

Source: G1