Israeli children left traumatised even after militants' rockets stopped falling

Iron Dome

Air defence: Rockets fired from Gaza met by Iron Dome missiles in skies over Israel on Friday (GETTY)

"Some fear every noise, and many are scared to independently do things they normally do alone, even showering and getting dressed.”

It is common for children to react to a period of rocket fire by regressing to habits they left behind at younger ages, like bedwetting, Ms Beck said.

She reported a sharp increase in enquiries at her centre. Most are from families that have sought help following past rounds of violence, and are now seeking support again. Over the coming days she expects an influx from families turning to her staff for the first time. She said: “We hope the things we are seeing now, effects of this last violence, go away quickly, but experience suggests otherwise.

“We know that symptoms often don’t go away quickly, and people are very much still suffering from past rounds of violence.

“In Sderot and the surrounding area I think that almost every family has someone with some form of post-trauma. We have lots of children who are still suffering from the effects of the round of violence just over a year ago.

“I have personally encountered children whose mothers I met in a therapeutic context years ago — that’s how long-term the impact of this violence is proving.”