File photo: Sameh A. Habeeb According to a psychologist around a third of Gaza's children are too emotionally scarred to adjust to a life of peace.

Pharmacologists say there are thousands of Gazans who in the past year have been taking Tramadol, an opioid painkiller drug which is related to heroin and morphine. The users are becoming addicted to the drug as it helps to numb them from the pain and stress they are living under due to the Israeli siege. Dr. Mahoud Khozendar, who works at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza city, told The Guardian on Monday, December 15, "Every day I see them with symptoms of withdrawal from this drug. Dozens come to emergency telling me that they are suffering vomiting, drowsiness and lack of concentration." Reseachers say the problem escalated after Israel sealed off the seaside strip in 2007. Professor Mazen al-Sakka, a pharmacologist at Gaza's al-Azhar university said, "A maximum of 5% of users are buying it with a prescription." Tramadol, a prescription drug in many countries, is now on the black market in Gaza due to the demand for it. It is estimated that there could be up to 30% of males between the ages of 14 to 30 in Gaza who use Tramadol on a regular basis. Researchers also believe there are as many as 15,000 that have already become addicted to the drug. Dr Taysir Diab, a psychiatrist at the Gaza Community Mental Health Program said, "It's a way of avoiding or escaping the political situation - the unemployment, the closure. It's a huge source of stress." Tramadol will over the short term remove the pain and stress and gives one a feeling of well being. Professor Sakka, of al-Azhar University, became aware of the problem by his students after he had given a lecture on dangers of the drug. He said he is alarmed by the wide range of people who take the painkiller to cope with their day to day life. He stated that those taking the drug includes professionals such as surgeons as well as students. Even with international criticism Israel has closed off all commercial crossings with the impoverished strip since Nov.4. It is the home to 1.6 million people. Unemployment is 50%. The people are without electricity, water and services for up to 16 hours a day. For most of the Gazans conditions have grown dramatically worse in the past month. Jindiya Abu Amra and her 12-year-old daughter go out looking for green grass to eat as they ran out of food two weeks ago. As Abu Amra showed the leaves of a plant that grows along the streets she said, "We had one meal today - khobbeizeh. Every day, I wake up and start looking for wood and plastic to burn for fuel and I beg. When I find nothing, we eat this grass." Her husband is unemployed and they have seven daughters and a son. They do not have any furniture as it has all been burned for heat. Twelve year-old Rabab goes with her mother most mornings to scavenge, as the convoys of United Nations trucks loaded with food wait for permission from Israel to enter the territory that has been blockaded by them.