05:14A displaced Palestinian girl says she has to cover herself with a headscarf for fear of being bullied by her peers after experiencing sudden hair loss due to psychological stress while living amid shelling in the Gaza Strip, as seen as footage captured in Khan Younis on Friday.
Sama said she started to lose her hair after the Indonesian Hospital in Rafah was bombed while she and her family were taking shelter in the building.
"I was very scared, and everyone in the hospital was frightened. We waited until morning, then left Rafah and went to the Khan Younis camp. Two days after we arrived at the Khan Younis camp, I was combing my hair and was shocked to see it falling out," Sama explained.
"I told my mum my hair was falling out, and she said it was not a problem. But it kept falling out every time I combed it until it became like this," she continued. "I hope my hair regrows before my birthday."
Sama said she felt 'extremely embarrassed' when other children called her names after seeing her without her headscarf for the first time.
"They would say I am bald and have cancer. That's what they said to me. Once, the scarf fell off while I was playing with them [...] I felt so embarrassed," she said.
Sama's mother explained that the child's older sister has also started wearing a headscarf as a 'sign of solidarity' with her sibling.
"She started wearing a headscarf 24 hours just like Sama. When I asked her why she put on a headscarf? She said she feels ashamed brushing her hair when her sister cannot. They used to fight over the comb, but now she can't brush her hair as long as her sister can't," the woman said.
Last May, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) warned of the psychological impacts on children in Gaza, noting that "children in Gaza are experiencing devastating levels of stress."
In March, 'Save the Children' organization reported that "violence, displacement, famine, disease, and nearly 17 years of blockade have caused relentless psychological harm to children in Gaza."
Fighting erupted in Gaza after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,139 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping over 200 by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The IDF launched a subsequent campaign of airstrikes and ground incursions in the enclave, killing 40,334 Palestinians and injuring 93,356 others as of the time of publication.
'They say I am bald and have cancer' - Displaced child describes losing hair due to trauma in Gaza
A displaced Palestinian girl says she has to cover herself with a headscarf for fear of being bullied by her peers after experiencing sudden hair loss due to psychological stress while living amid shelling in the Gaza Strip, as seen as footage captured in Khan Younis on Friday.
Sama said she started to lose her hair after the Indonesian Hospital in Rafah was bombed while she and her family were taking shelter in the building.
"I was very scared, and everyone in the hospital was frightened. We waited until morning, then left Rafah and went to the Khan Younis camp. Two days after we arrived at the Khan Younis camp, I was combing my hair and was shocked to see it falling out," Sama explained.
"I told my mum my hair was falling out, and she said it was not a problem. But it kept falling out every time I combed it until it became like this," she continued. "I hope my hair regrows before my birthday."
Sama said she felt 'extremely embarrassed' when other children called her names after seeing her without her headscarf for the first time.
"They would say I am bald and have cancer. That's what they said to me. Once, the scarf fell off while I was playing with them [...] I felt so embarrassed," she said.
Sama's mother explained that the child's older sister has also started wearing a headscarf as a 'sign of solidarity' with her sibling.
"She started wearing a headscarf 24 hours just like Sama. When I asked her why she put on a headscarf? She said she feels ashamed brushing her hair when her sister cannot. They used to fight over the comb, but now she can't brush her hair as long as her sister can't," the woman said.
Last May, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) warned of the psychological impacts on children in Gaza, noting that "children in Gaza are experiencing devastating levels of stress."
In March, 'Save the Children' organization reported that "violence, displacement, famine, disease, and nearly 17 years of blockade have caused relentless psychological harm to children in Gaza."
Fighting erupted in Gaza after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,139 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping over 200 by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The IDF launched a subsequent campaign of airstrikes and ground incursions in the enclave, killing 40,334 Palestinians and injuring 93,356 others as of the time of publication.
A displaced Palestinian girl says she has to cover herself with a headscarf for fear of being bullied by her peers after experiencing sudden hair loss due to psychological stress while living amid shelling in the Gaza Strip, as seen as footage captured in Khan Younis on Friday.
Sama said she started to lose her hair after the Indonesian Hospital in Rafah was bombed while she and her family were taking shelter in the building.
"I was very scared, and everyone in the hospital was frightened. We waited until morning, then left Rafah and went to the Khan Younis camp. Two days after we arrived at the Khan Younis camp, I was combing my hair and was shocked to see it falling out," Sama explained.
"I told my mum my hair was falling out, and she said it was not a problem. But it kept falling out every time I combed it until it became like this," she continued. "I hope my hair regrows before my birthday."
Sama said she felt 'extremely embarrassed' when other children called her names after seeing her without her headscarf for the first time.
"They would say I am bald and have cancer. That's what they said to me. Once, the scarf fell off while I was playing with them [...] I felt so embarrassed," she said.
Sama's mother explained that the child's older sister has also started wearing a headscarf as a 'sign of solidarity' with her sibling.
"She started wearing a headscarf 24 hours just like Sama. When I asked her why she put on a headscarf? She said she feels ashamed brushing her hair when her sister cannot. They used to fight over the comb, but now she can't brush her hair as long as her sister can't," the woman said.
Last May, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) warned of the psychological impacts on children in Gaza, noting that "children in Gaza are experiencing devastating levels of stress."
In March, 'Save the Children' organization reported that "violence, displacement, famine, disease, and nearly 17 years of blockade have caused relentless psychological harm to children in Gaza."
Fighting erupted in Gaza after Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, killing 1,139 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping over 200 by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The IDF launched a subsequent campaign of airstrikes and ground incursions in the enclave, killing 40,334 Palestinians and injuring 93,356 others as of the time of publication.