War continues to leave deep marks not only on bodies but also on the minds of Gaza’s population, disrupting sleep, daily movement, and memory. For many, the constant bombardment has created a psychological environment where the smallest moments of calm become a form of survival.
Children remain the most affected. Doctors and mental-health workers in Gaza report severe psychological and physical reactions among minors after two years of war. Some children experience hair loss, speech disruptions, and trauma-related regression. Others lose access to medical treatment or are denied travel for care. Many injuries become life-threatening due to a lack of medication and the collapse of the health sector.
In this context, an initiative known as TECH MED Gaza has begun offering virtual-reality-based therapy to help children temporarily detach from the scenes of destruction around them. The program uses Meta Quest 2 VR headsets, described by the organizers as a “safe corridor” that allows children to enter guided, calming environments designed for trauma support.
Jonathan Crickx, spokesman for UNICEF, recently stated that around one million children—“all children in the Gaza Strip,” as he put it—now require mental-health and psychosocial support after two years of genocide.
Abdullah Al-Jamal, Director of Mental Health in the Gaza Strip, told QNN that the war has affected “every home in Gaza without exception,” adding that children are at the highest risk of long-term consequences if early intervention is not provided.
“Based on field work in this war, I am almost certain that all children in the Gaza Strip have been exposed to various psychological traumas,” he said. He noted that the destruction of all pre-war mental-health facilities, governmental, private, and non-profit, has left services unable to meet overwhelming demand.
How TECH MED Gaza Works
TECH MED Gaza integrates VR technology into mental-health treatment, offering structured environments meant to support relaxation, emotional regulation, and trauma processing. Sessions include calming nature scenes, breathing exercises, guided mental-health routines, interactive stories, and behavioral-therapy scenarios tailored to children. The program also serves adult women and young people affected by the genocide.
The idea was first developed by engineer Musab Ali, whose son was injured during the war and suffered psychological decline. As a software engineer, he sought an alternative to mobile-phone screens and began designing a VR-based method that might help injured children. He collaborated with mental-health professionals and technical experts to build the program. The first implementation was at Shuha’a Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, and the initiative later expanded to a camp in Zawaida.
Mental-health supervisor Abdullah Abu Shamla told QNN that the program commonly treats symptoms such as anxiety, sleep disorders, PTSD, flashbacks, hyperarousal, social isolation, panic attacks, and behavioral issues like selective silence and avoidance.
According to Abu Shamla, VR-based sessions have shown promising results. He said that children affected by amputations, injuries, or severe trauma have responded “powerfully,” with faster stabilisation than in standard sessions. Treatment that normally requires 10–12 sessions may show results in 5–7 VR-assisted sessions.
He also reported reductions in anxiety within minutes, increased engagement among withdrawn children, smoother transitions to speech-therapy work, and improvements in emotional regulation and sleep.
Operational Challenges
Program staff say they face significant barriers: difficulty transporting equipment, frequent power outages, environmental noise from ongoing bombardment, limited supplies, and the need for continuous staff training in a field that is new to Gaza. Long-term follow-up with participants is often impossible due to repeated displacement.
Asked about specific cases that shaped their use of VR, staff pointed to situations where children experienced severe panic, isolation, or refusal to communicate during traditional therapy. One example involved Sham, a young girl who lost a limb and stopped speaking but began responding positively inside the virtual environment.
Case Examples from the Program
- Shahada, 11, developed a serious bacterial-infection-related condition caused by environmental contamination from the war. He suffers partial paralysis affecting his lower limbs, upper limbs, and respiratory system. After healthcare interruptions due to system collapse, he was referred to TECH MED Gaza. Staff say he showed no movement in early sessions but began attempting to move and walk by the third session.
- Salah, 15, was shot in the head by a quadcopter drone while playing with friends. TECH MED staff provided physiotherapy and speech-therapy support. According to the program, Salah went from being unable to sit upright to walking within two weeks. He has since returned to school.
Local Model With Global Reference Points
According to the team, they examined VR-based mental-health models in Europe and Canada but adapted the approach to local realities, including war-related trauma and the practical limitations of operating in Gaza. They describe the final model as fully Palestinian in its application.
While the program does not claim to offer a cure, its staff view it as one tool among many needed to support Gaza’s children and survivors of war. They emphasize that it provides temporary relief and a structured environment for therapeutic intervention at a time when traditional mental-health infrastructure has collapsed.
