Palestinian Childhoods: Exploring Mother and Child Love and Affection in a Conflict Zone

Through a case study approach, this paper seeks to explore the physical interactions between children and their mothers in a conflict zone. By focusing on Gaza since 7 October 2023, we outline our joint activities between children and mothers/caregivers. In particular, we focus on physical affection between mothers and children in safe spaces created by our Save the Children projects in the Gaza strip. During this activity, the impact of war on the social and emotional bonds between the child and the source of security (the mother/caregiver) come into sharp focus. This paper seeks to highlight the practice-based work in which we engage. For example, some mothers cry because this is the first time they have hugged their child in a long time. Notably, mothers do not find the space to express physical affection for their children due to being occupied with exhausting daily tasks to provide basic needs for everyday survival, such as providing firewood, cooking, baking and washing. Some children stay longer in the hug and do not want to leave their mother. In a few cases, children refuse to hug their mothers, which makes us provide individual attention to such cases. Our project’s action-oriented approach reveals that many mothers themselves identified that the project’s dedicated activity caught their attention; and it highlighted the importance of strengthening the relationship with their children. They reported their own realisation of their busy lives, and how this was preventing them from meeting their children’s social and psychological needs, which are no less important than the basic needs of food. In this paper, in addition to mothers’ meaning-making; we identify key areas of concern impacting Palestinian childhood in a war zone. Our findings demonstrate a wider significance.