Unyielding Spirit: Resilience in the Shadows of Israel-Hamas War

Introduction: Resilience is “the capacity to function (during) and recover successfully from adversities; ‘bounce back’ or even ‘bounce forward’.” Resilience is vital for coping with emergencies, as it was identified as a protective factor against distress and enhances compliance with guidelines issued by authorities. Methods: A longitudinal study was conducted, measuring resilience (individual, community, and societal), positive (hope, morale, and social cohesion), and negative (sense of danger, distress) coping mechanisms periodically, five times during the protracted war between Israel and Gaza. Data were collected using structured, quantitative, validated scales. Resilience and coping mechanisms were compared across the five measurements and between evacuated versus non-evacuated populations. Results: Individual resilience was higher in the fifth compared to the first measurement, while community and societal resilience decreased consistently throughout the war. Morale rose while hope and social cohesion significantly decreased between measurements. The evacuated population reported significantly lower levels of resilience, social cohesion, hope, and morale, and higher levels of distress and sense of danger compared to the average scores of the overall population. Hope was the best predictor of societal resilience among the overall population, while the level of ‘support for the government’ was found to be the best predictor among the evacuated population. Conclusion: Individual resilience was higher in the fifth compared to the first measurement, while community and societal resilience decreased consistently throughout the war. Morale rose while hope and social cohesion significantly decreased between measurements. The evacuated population reported significantly lower levels of resilience, social cohesion, hope, and morale, as well as higher levels of distress and sense of danger compared to the average scores of the overall population. Hope was found to be the best predictor of societal resilience among the overall population, while the level of ‘support for the government’ was found to be the best predictor among the evacuated population.