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Palestinians in Gaza Reflect on One Year of Israel’s War With Hamas Oct. 7, 2024

The war has killed tens of thousands and devastated entire cities, leaving many in Gaza without a home and fueling a humanitarian catastrophe.

By Bilal Shbair and Hiba Yazbek Reporting from the Gaza Strip and Jerusalem.

Last October, Fadi Abu Kheir of southern Gaza had big plans. He was going to be engaged to the woman he loved. After they got married, he said, they would move in together, into an apartment that he spent years building.

“Now,” Mr. Abu Kheir, 24, said, “I am clueless about my future. I cannot even think how I can adapt to life postwar.”

It has been a year since the Hamas-led terrorist attacks impelled Israel to launch a retaliatory offensive in Gaza. For Mr. Abu Kheir — and, indeed, for Palestinians across the enclave — every day since, he said, has teemed with “sadness, depression and fury.”

The war has killed over 41,000 people, according to Gazan health officials, and devastated entire neighborhoods and cities, leaving hundreds of thousands without a home and fueling a humanitarian catastrophe.

More than 2 million people lived in the strip before the conflict. No one has been unaffected.

“We were so happy before this war,” said Maisaa al-Naffar, 20, of Khan Younis, breaking into tears as she recalled her first few weeks as a newlywed before the war began. She added: “I am not the person I used to be.”

Nine months pregnant, she is sheltering in a tent in southern Gaza.

“I miss my old life. I miss the days when we used to have fun or laugh at even the smallest things.

I miss my life when we had enough healthy food and snacks,”

Ms. al-Naffar said. “Today, everything has become a hell, full of dust and darkness.” 

Throughout the enclave, similar stories abound. For Mr. Abu Kheir, the image from the war that lingers is that of a naked, lifeless woman lying in the street, blown out of a house that had been bombarded, he said. The conflict has killed two of his best friends, and displaced him and his family, he said. It also destroyed the apartment he was building, in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The war, he said, has “destroyed my dreams.”

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TEXT I

HOW TO COPE WITH THE SUNDAY SCARIES

by Chantelle Lee

    ________(1) Sunday night, and you’re feeling sad and anxious about going back to work in the morning.

    Say hello to the Sunday scaries 

   You’re not alone in your workweek dread: “They’re very, very common,” says Susanne Cooperman, a neuropsychologist and psychoanalyst at New York University Langone Huntington Medical Group. “There’s nothing wrong with a person if they feel sad that the weekend is over. It’s when it really interferes in your functioning—when you can’t focus, when you can’t sleep, when you feel yourself medicating with alcohol—then you need help.”

   Here’s why people get the Sunday scaries and the best ways to combat those thoughts of doom and gloom.

   __________(2) are the Sunday scaries? The Sunday scaries typically manifest in two ways: feelings of depression that the weekend is ending, feelings of anxiety about the week to come, or both. These feelings typically start on Sunday afternoon.

   “It could be that you feel sad and irritable and you have difficulty concentrating and fatigue,”

   Cooperman says. That collection of feelings is called anhedonia—basically a loss of enjoyment.

   If you feel more dread for the work week ahead, that’s called “anticipatory anxiety,” she says.

   Why people get them 

   The scaries strike for all kinds of reasons. They could be related to work—maybe you’re afraid of losing your job, or you’re dreading going to the office in person, or you’re simply having a hard time unplugging from work after hours, Cooperman says.

   Or, she adds, it could also be that you overbooked yourself during the week and feel exhausted by the time Sunday comes around.

   How to deal with the Sunday scaries

  One of the best ways to deal with the Sunday scaries is to mentally plant yourself firmly in the present. One way to achieve this is to try a mediation or relaxation app, even if it’s only for 10 or 15 minutes, Cooperman says. “I think that’s probably the best out of all the tips: stay in the moment, really try to curtail that catastrophizing into the future,” she says. There are other paths away from the scaries, too: Unplug from your phone or social media, maintain a good work-life balance, do some exercise, or get some fresh air. Make sure to schedule fun activities for Sunday afternoon and evening and do things that reliably make you feel better or help you “refuel [your] batteries,” Cooperman says. Just as important is allowing yourself downtime to relax and unwind, she adds. She also recommends trying to split up errands throughout the week so you don’t feel like you wasted your entire Sunday doing them.

   While the Sunday scaries are common, people should keep an eye on how they’re coping come the end of the weekend. “Use healthy, adaptive ways to self-soothe when you’re anxious and have the scaries,” Cooperman says. “A glass of wine is fine, but if it’s more than that and you need it every night, then that’s a problem.” If the scaries are so bad that it’s significantly impacting your life, Cooperman suggests talking about these feelings with a therapist or a psychologist. Some warning signs include being so anxious that it’s hard to get out of bed in the morning, having anxiety attacks, needing alcohol to calm down, not being able to focus or sleep, or failing to enjoy the weekend at all. “If you just can’t get out of that loop where you’re constantly unhappy, then I think you’re at a place where you should see a psychologist or a therapist,” Cooperman says. “Sometimes it’s hard to [deal with it] on your own. It’s good to talk to a professional.” 

LEE, Chantelle. How to cope with the Sunday scaries. Time, New York, 6 Apr. 2025. Available at: https://time.com/7275089/what-are-sunday-scaries/. Accessed on: 11 Aug. 2025.