GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Since the state of emergency was announced March 5 in the occupied Palestinian territories, the Palestinian government has imposed a series of measures, including a lockdown, in order to contain the coronavirus outbreak. These include shutting down the border crossings and educational facilities, and preventing the movement of individuals in the governorates, villages and refugee camps.

The government required that the citizens stay confined at home. This preventive measure, although of significant importance in the fight against the novel virus, has been harmful to many children who have been subject to violence during the pandemic.

Palestinian Minister of Social Development Ahmad Majdalani said May 13 that his ministry provided counseling and psychological services to 610 children who have been subjected to abuse in the West Bank in the past two months.

Majdalani said in a press release that the children and their families were contacted by phone, and that the families received instructions on how to deal with the children.