A United Nations expert has warned of the risk that mental illnesses could manifest among the people of Gaza years from now due to the current fighting, Reuters reports.

“Of course, we see the physical injury, and because it’s physical, one can appreciate the severity of it,” said UN special rapporteur on the right to health Tlaleng Mofokeng.

“But acute mental distress that will then turn into anxiety and other kinds of mental illnesses later on in life is really, really important to start thinking intentionally about.”

“The health system in Gaza has been completely obliterated, and the right to health has been decimated at every level,” Mofokeng said.

“The conditions are incompatible with the realisation of everyone to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health.”