Pedro Ignacio Arcos González
Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Public Health, specialist in Preventive Medicine and Public Health, professor of Epidemiology and director of the Emergency and Disaster Research Unit at the University of Oviedo, and associate researcher at the University of Oxford (United Kingdom)
This is a reasonably well-designed study, considering the difficulties of field research in complex emergencies, conducted through interviews with the exposed population in 2020, 2023, and 2025, with an adequate analysis of results. Although there is already abundant published evidence on the deterioration of the mental health of the population of Gaza and the study is not strictly speaking a cohort follow-up study, the article does provide a picture of the evolution of this deterioration over time, as it includes three time periods and therefore covers the most violent phase of the Israeli attacks (2023 to 2025).
Its limitations are those inherent in attempting to obtain a representative sample of a population that has been displaced multiple times and is in a complex emergency situation. Overall, the article contributes to reinforcing the existing estimate of the enormous impact on the population of Gaza of Israel's violent and repeated attacks and the effects of the blockade and the destruction of its health system, particularly in the area of mental health.