The experience of children who were expelled from the Gaza Strip and Northern Samaria

Evacuations of civilian populations have occurred throughout the world since the dawn of history. Evacuation of populations has many varied consequences on the emotional state of the evacuees, which include post-traumatic symptoms, depression, adjustment problems, and experiences of loss and grief. In August 2005, Israel began implementation of the "disengagement" program from the Gaza strip and the evacuation of more than 8,000 residents, including 3,500 children up to age 14 from Gush Katif and northern Samaria. This event has similar characteristics to other evacuations, but also unique features. Research on this topic is, naturally, in its early stages.

The present study offers a glimpse into the world of 18 children aged 9-12 who were evacuated from Gush Katif. The study aims to examine their experience from a phenomenological point of view, using semi-structured in-depth interviews conducted five years after the evacuation.

Several major themes arise from analysis of the interviews. Regarding the experience of the evacuation itself, the children reported feelings of shock and surprise alongside emotional responses of fear, sadness and pain. In addition, the children reported witnessing various reactions of the adults around them. Another theme the children broadly speak about is the experience of multiple losses: loss of home, place and space, the social loss, and the amputation of the future. A third theme focuses on changes in the children's sense of belonging and their wish to return to Gush Katif. The children likewise speak about the meaning of the evacuation from their perspective today. They mention community and social support as a facilitating factor in coping, together with the ongoing difficulty to talk about the expulsion and the pain that accompanies it: before, during, and, in fact, to this day.

The Discussion is constructed around three main axes. The experience of the expulsion viewed as a traumatic event with an ensuing rupture in world perceptions, the children’s losses and grief and the children’s difficulty to understand and to process what they have experienced after the expulsion. For various reasons the adult world, including families as well as researchers in the field, could not make room for evacuees children's experiences. Understanding the unique experience of young children enables helping them in the preparation, dealing and processing of an event of that magnitude.