The feeling after war is like the sensation of a bullet after piercing flesh and bone; the injured does not feel the pain all at once or at the moment of injury, but after the bullet settles in the body and cools down, then seeing the blood, torn flesh, and broken bones, then sensing the approach of death and the end, followed by thoughts of family, parents, children, and friends.

Similarly, war’s true destruction is not seen during battles; people are busy burying the dead, treating the wounded, sheltering orphans, preparing food for the hungry, clothes for the cold, and safe places for the lost. People only think about their day. But when the war ends, the disaster becomes clearer, and the truth emerges. It can be likened to the collapse of a huge dam, where water takes along humans, animals, trees, cars, and everything in its path. When the water recedes, the victims begin to appear—humans, animals, and other objects. The end is the cover that reveals the catastrophe.

Two days ago, the war in the Gaza Strip stopped after two years of killing, death, destruction, loss, and funerals on both sides, Palestinian and Israeli. However, the Palestinian side suffered far greater losses in lives and property due to the imbalance of power, geographical nature, and the announcement of losses. It is known that Israel does not announce the real war losses during the war but leaves the matter for after the war, after the storm calms, when visible and invisible losses become clear. Since we do not know much about what happens in Israeli society but know much more about what happens in Palestinian society, thanks to data from the Ministry of Health, the Red Crescent, UNRWA, UNICEF, civil society, ambulances, hospitals, and others.

The visible losses are not yet accurate, but reports say that 80% of buildings in Gaza are uninhabitable, infrastructure is completely destroyed, there are 10,000 missing persons, 79,000 victims, one-third of them children and women, tens of thousands of wounded, 2,500 families erased from civil records, in addition to hundreds of thousands of displaced persons whose homes were crushed or destroyed.

But there is another face to the conflict—there are invisible losses that may be more painful than visible ones. Those who died are gone, but there are living and dead people who lost one or more limbs. These losses cannot be counted by numbers or shown in news bulletins, but they leave deep scars in consciousness and reshape societies from within. The Gaza war is a stark example of this type of uncounted loss. Some families no longer exist; the war erased their presence from memory. Let us look more closely at the invisible losses, including psychological scars, which are unseen wounds. War does not only kill but leaves generations of survivors burdened with trauma. Children who lived under bombardment, lost their parents, or saw death with their own eyes suffer severe psychological disorders: nightmares, anxiety, involuntary urination, and detachment from reality.

Adults, some who lost their families or their homes or jobs, accumulate feelings of helplessness and despair, threatening long-term social disintegration.

Among the victims are thousands of doctors, engineers, teachers, and students. They were not just individuals but life projects, deferred dreams, and potential contributors to building a better future. Their loss means years of lost education and experience and delays in development for decades.

On another level, war destroyed the social fabric, schools, hospitals, cultural centers, and also deeper things like trust, security, and belonging. How can a child trust the world after seeing their home bombed? How can a mother build a future for her children when she does not know if they will survive? These questions find no answers in relief reports but live in every Gaza home.

What constitutes an assault on the dead and the living survivors are theorists who speak of the ‘price of struggle’ or the ‘price of freedom,’ indifferent to people’s conditions and their organic and psychological suffering. Some downplay war victims, considering them a ‘necessary struggle.’ These reduce war to slogans or political calculations, forgetting that every shell that falls does not only kill but steals childhood, assassinates hope, and plants hatred in hearts.

Looking more closely at the invisible losses, thousands of children have become without legal documents after the death of their parents, threatening their legal and social loss. Families have been scattered between countries and camps. Children grew up without fathers or mothers, resulting in generations suffering from loss of belonging. Survivors who witnessed relatives dying will suffer lifelong psychological trauma and guilt.

The results of war are not what TV channels or media institutions publish. There are losses no media can publish because they require a human spirit to see beyond bodies and eyes. Thus, invisible losses remain scars in collective memory that do not easily heal.

The work of the media now begins with searching for the owners of stories and tales who suffer in silence.