BEIRUT (AP) — Curled up in his father’s lap, clinging to his chest, Hussein Mikdad cried his heart out. The 4-year-old kicked his doctor with his intact foot and pushed him away with the arm that was not in a cast.
“Make him leave me alone!” he cried. His father reassured him and pulled him closer, his eyes tearing in grief – and gratitude that his son was healing.
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Displaced children take part in activities, organized by the International Medical Corps, at a shelter housing them in Dekwaneh, east Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Hussein Mikdad, 4, left, and his cousin Zahraa, right, who were injured on Oct. 2 in an Israeli airstrike at a densely-populated neighborhood south of Beirut, sit on their wheelchairs as they wait to be seen by their doctor at American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC), in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Fatima Zayoun, right, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press as she sits next to her daughter Ivana Skakye, 2, who is suffering from third-degree burns over 40 percent of her body following an Israeli airstrike last September near their home in Deir Qanoun al Nahr a village in south Lebanon, at the Geitaoui hospital where she is receiving treatment, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Rescue workers gather at the site of Israeli airstrikes that destroyed buildings facing the city's main government hospital in a densely-populated neighborhood, in southern Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Hussein Mikdad, 4, left, who was injured on Oct. 2 in an Israeli airstrike at a densely-populated neighborhood south of Beirut, looks at his father Hassan, during an interview with The Associated Press at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC), in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
In this undated photo provided by Fatima Zayoun, Rahaf Skakye, 7, left, and her sister Ivana Skakye, 2, pose for photo earlier this year before both girls suffered severe burns in their home in southern Lebanon following an Israeli airstrike last September near their home in the village of Deir Qanoun al Nahr, south Lebanon. (Fatima Zayoun via AP)
A Doctor's Without Borders counselor, left, talks to displaced children during a mental healthcare session in an empty building complex housing them, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Fatima Zayoun, covers her daughter Ivana Skakye, 2, who is suffered for third-degree burns over 40 percent of her body following an Israeli airstrike last September near their home in Deir Qanoun al Nahr a village in south Lebanon, as she lies on the bed at the Lebanese hospital Geitaoui where she is receiving treatment, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Displaced children take part in activities for mental healthcare, organized by the International Medical Corps, at a shelter housing them in Dekwaneh, east Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Displaced children draw during a mental healthcare session organized by Doctors Without Borders in an empty building complex housing them, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Ameera Amad waves the Lebanese flag outside an American Muslims and Allies election night watch party Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Dearborn, Mich., the nation's largest Arab-majority city. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Plastic surgeon doctor Ziad Sleiman, inspects Ivana Skakye, 2, a Lebanese child who is suffering from third-degree burns over 40 percent of her body following an Israeli airstrike last September near their home in Deir Qanoun al Nahr a village in south Lebanon, as she lies on a bed at the Geitaoui hospital where she is receiving treatment, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A nurse stands next of Ivana Skakye, 2, a Lebanese girl who is suffering from third-degree burns over 40 percent of her body following an Israeli airstrike last September near their home in Deir Qanoun al Nahr a village in south Lebanon, as she lies on a bed at the Geitaoui hospital where she is receiving treatment, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Hassan Mikdad, holds his son Hussein Mikdad, 4, who was injured on Oct. 2 in an Israeli airstrike at a densely-populated neighborhood south of Beirut, as he cries during a check up by his doctor at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC), in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Hussein and Zahraa, 3, displaced Lebanese twins who fled with their parents from their village of Mais al-Jabal in south Lebanon amid the ongoing Hezbollah-Israel war, play on a gun with a twisted barrel statute, symbolizing anti-violence, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Ivana Skakye, 2, a Lebanese child who is suffering from third-degree burns over 40 percent of her body following an Israeli airstrike last September near their home in Deir Qanoun al Nahr, a village in south Lebanon, raises her burned arms as she lies on a bed at the Geitaoui hospital where she is receiving treatment, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Hassan Mikdad, holds his son Hussein Mikdad, 4, who was injured on Oct. 2 in an Israeli airstrike at a densely-populated neighborhood south of Beirut, during a check up by his doctor at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC), in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Hussein and his father, Hassan, were the only survivors from their family when an Israeli strike last month collapsed their home in Beirut, killing 18 people – including Hussein’s mother, his two sisters and his brother.
Doctors at the American University of Beirut Medical Center repaired Hussein's fractured thigh and the torn tendons in his arm. Hussein should be able to walk again in two months, albeit with a lingering limp, they say.
A prognosis for Hussein’s invisible wounds is much harder. He is back in diapers and has begun wetting his bed. He hardly speaks. He hasn't asked about his mother and siblings, his father said.
The Israeli military said the Oct. 21 strike hit a Hezbollah target, without elaborating.
Children have often been the victims as Israel has escalated its bombardment in Lebanon since late September. More than 100 have been killed and hundreds wounded in the past six weeks, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry. Of the 14,000 wounded by Israeli fire the past year, around 10% are children.
Israel has vowed to cripple Hezbollah to stop the Lebanese militant group's fire on northern Israel, which began just after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack triggered the war in Gaza. It says Hezbollah hides its fighters and infrastructure in residential areas.
Increasingly, strikes have been hitting homes and killing families.
“It leaves us with a generation of physically wounded children, children who are psychologically and emotionally wounded,” said Ghassan Abu Sittah, a renowned British-Palestinian reconstructive surgeon who is also treating Hussein.
Beirut’s Lebanon Hospital Geitaoui has nearly tripled the capacity of its burns center – already one of Lebanon’s largest – since September to accommodate war wounded, said its medical director Naji Abirached.
About a fifth of newly admitted patients are children.
Ivana Skakye turned 2 last week in one of burns center ICU units. The tiny girl remains wrapped in gauze around her head, arms and lower body — six weeks after an Israeli strike left her with third-degree burns over 40% of her body.
Fatima Zayoun, her mother, was in the kitchen when the Sept. 23 strike hit outside their home in a southern village. The house was damaged and a fire broke out.
Zayoun rushed to grab her two daughters, who were playing on the terrace. They were covered with black ash, she said.
Ivana was unrecognizable, her hair burned away. “I told myself, `That is not her,’” Zayoun said.
Ivana’s 7-year-old sister Rahaf had burns to her face and hands and has recovered more quickly. Ivana could be discharged in a few days, said her doctor, Ziad Sleiman. But the family has no home to return to, and Zayoun worries Ivana could suffer infections in the crowded displaced shelters.
Zayoun was 17 last time Israel and Hezbollah were at war, in 2006. Displaced with her family then, she said she almost enjoyed the experience, riding out of their village in a truck, mixing with new people, learning new things. They returned home after the war.
“But this war is hard. They are hitting everywhere,” she said. “What do they want from us? Do they want to hurt our children? We are not what they are looking for.”
Abu Sittah, the surgeon, said that for children, an attack on their home can have lasting effects.
They "for the first time lose that sense of security — that their parents are keeping them safe, that their homes are invincible,” he said.
Parents in displaced shelters report increased anxiety, hostility and aggression among kids, said Maria Elizabeth Haddad, a psychosocial worker. The children talk back and ignore rules. Some become clingy. Others develop speech impediments. She cited one with early signs of psychosis.
One recent morning, children played in a school-turned-shelter north of Beirut, where nearly 3,000 people displaced from the south live.
The kids — ranging from 6 to 12 and hailing from different villages — split into two teams, competing to grab a handkerchief. As they played, a tiny girl clung to a visiting AP reporter, holding her hand. Finally deciding she could trust her, she whispered a secret in her ear: “I am from Lebanon. Don’t tell anyone.”
The game fell apart when two girls got into a fist fight. Pushing and shoving were followed by tears and tantrums.
Symptoms of anxiety will last as they grow – a craving for greater stability, difficulties with attachment -- said Haddad, manager of psychosocial support programs in the Beirut area for the U.S.-based International Medical Corps.
“It is a generational trauma. We have experienced it before with our parents,” she said. “This is not going to be easy to overcome.”
The night the strike hit, Hassan Mikdad had stepped out for coffee. He watched his building crumble.
His friend, Hussein Hammoud, rushed to help search. In the darkness, Hammoud spotted some fingers in the rubble. He thought they were severed – until the boy screamed. It was Hussein.
When he dug him out, Hussein had a metal bar embedded in his shoulder, glass lodged in his leg. Hammoud held the child’s almost-severed wrist in place.
Hussein’ two sisters — Celine, 10, and Cila, 14 — were pulled out of the rubble the next day. His mother, Mona, was found locked in an embrace with her 6-year-old son, Ali.
Hassan Mikdad lost nearly all evidence of his 16 years of family life – his family, his shop, his motorcycles and car, all destroyed.
Only Hussein remains. They must start together from scratch, he said. In the hospital, he buys the boy a new toy every day.
“What I am living through seems like a big lie. ... The mind can’t comprehend,” he said. “I thank God for the blessing that is Hussein.”
Displaced children take part in activities, organized by the International Medical Corps, at a shelter housing them in Dekwaneh, east Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Hussein Mikdad, 4, left, and his cousin Zahraa, right, who were injured on Oct. 2 in an Israeli airstrike at a densely-populated neighborhood south of Beirut, sit on their wheelchairs as they wait to be seen by their doctor at American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC), in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Fatima Zayoun, right, speaks during an interview with The Associated Press as she sits next to her daughter Ivana Skakye, 2, who is suffering from third-degree burns over 40 percent of her body following an Israeli airstrike last September near their home in Deir Qanoun al Nahr a village in south Lebanon, at the Geitaoui hospital where she is receiving treatment, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Rescue workers gather at the site of Israeli airstrikes that destroyed buildings facing the city's main government hospital in a densely-populated neighborhood, in southern Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Hussein Mikdad, 4, left, who was injured on Oct. 2 in an Israeli airstrike at a densely-populated neighborhood south of Beirut, looks at his father Hassan, during an interview with The Associated Press at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC), in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
In this undated photo provided by Fatima Zayoun, Rahaf Skakye, 7, left, and her sister Ivana Skakye, 2, pose for photo earlier this year before both girls suffered severe burns in their home in southern Lebanon following an Israeli airstrike last September near their home in the village of Deir Qanoun al Nahr, south Lebanon. (Fatima Zayoun via AP)
A Doctor's Without Borders counselor, left, talks to displaced children during a mental healthcare session in an empty building complex housing them, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Fatima Zayoun, covers her daughter Ivana Skakye, 2, who is suffered for third-degree burns over 40 percent of her body following an Israeli airstrike last September near their home in Deir Qanoun al Nahr a village in south Lebanon, as she lies on the bed at the Lebanese hospital Geitaoui where she is receiving treatment, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Displaced children take part in activities for mental healthcare, organized by the International Medical Corps, at a shelter housing them in Dekwaneh, east Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Displaced children draw during a mental healthcare session organized by Doctors Without Borders in an empty building complex housing them, in Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 9, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Ameera Amad waves the Lebanese flag outside an American Muslims and Allies election night watch party Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024, in Dearborn, Mich., the nation's largest Arab-majority city. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
Plastic surgeon doctor Ziad Sleiman, inspects Ivana Skakye, 2, a Lebanese child who is suffering from third-degree burns over 40 percent of her body following an Israeli airstrike last September near their home in Deir Qanoun al Nahr a village in south Lebanon, as she lies on a bed at the Geitaoui hospital where she is receiving treatment, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A nurse stands next of Ivana Skakye, 2, a Lebanese girl who is suffering from third-degree burns over 40 percent of her body following an Israeli airstrike last September near their home in Deir Qanoun al Nahr a village in south Lebanon, as she lies on a bed at the Geitaoui hospital where she is receiving treatment, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Hassan Mikdad, holds his son Hussein Mikdad, 4, who was injured on Oct. 2 in an Israeli airstrike at a densely-populated neighborhood south of Beirut, as he cries during a check up by his doctor at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC), in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
Hussein and Zahraa, 3, displaced Lebanese twins who fled with their parents from their village of Mais al-Jabal in south Lebanon amid the ongoing Hezbollah-Israel war, play on a gun with a twisted barrel statute, symbolizing anti-violence, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Ivana Skakye, 2, a Lebanese child who is suffering from third-degree burns over 40 percent of her body following an Israeli airstrike last September near their home in Deir Qanoun al Nahr, a village in south Lebanon, raises her burned arms as she lies on a bed at the Geitaoui hospital where she is receiving treatment, in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Oct. 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Hassan Mikdad, holds his son Hussein Mikdad, 4, who was injured on Oct. 2 in an Israeli airstrike at a densely-populated neighborhood south of Beirut, during a check up by his doctor at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC), in Beirut, Lebanon, Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Bilal Hussein)
