Three years after October 7, prolonged war takes its toll on Israelis

What the report says

Three years after the 7 October 2023 Hamas-led attacks, Al Jazeera says the psychological impact of the war on Israeli society remains severe. The report, published on 9 October 2026, draws on research from Clalit Health Services and the Myers-JDC-Brookdale Institute, as well as interviews with mental health experts and one bereaved family, to show rising distress among civilians, children and soldiers.

According to the article, one in five Israelis reports serious difficulty functioning in daily life because of mental health problems. Clalit research shared with Al Jazeera found that psychiatric emergency visits among children and teenagers increased by 121 percent compared with the prewar period. The piece also describes the experience of the Ben Arye family, whose husband died by suicide after helping evacuate survivors from Kibbutz Be’eri, one of the communities attacked on 7 October 2023.

The report says repeated missile threats, sirens, displacement and prolonged military service have intensified anxiety and exhaustion. Experts quoted by Al Jazeera said these conditions can contribute to post-traumatic stress, depression, moral injury and strained family relationships. Israeli parliamentary data cited in the article recorded 279 suicide attempts among serving soldiers from January 2024 to July 2025, while combat soldiers accounted for most military suicide deaths in 2024.

Al Jazeera also places the Israeli findings in a broader regional context, noting that the war has caused widespread trauma in Gaza and Lebanon as well. The article says the fighting has left large parts of Gaza devastated and highlights UNICEF estimates of serious mental health needs among children in both Gaza and Lebanon.