Gaza City – On October 13, 2025, Hamas gunmen forcibly seized the headquarters of the Gaza Community Mental Health Programme (GCMHP), a Palestinian NGO specializing in mental health services in partnership with UN agencies like WHO and UNICEF, and have refused to vacate the premises. The organization, founded in 1982 by Dr. Eyad el-Sarraj, announced the takeover in a statement on October 20, 2025, revealing that Hamas activists and their families have been installed there, disrupting critical care for trauma-affected Gazans.

GCMHP’s statement, delayed by a week amid fears of retaliation, calls on international bodies to intervene and evict the militants, allowing the NGO to resume services for thousands reliant on its clinics. The seizure, amid the fragile Trump-brokered ceasefire, highlights Hamas’s reassertion of control in Gaza City, where the group has been accused of executing rivals and diverting aid. UN partners expressed outrage, with UNICEF urging immediate access restoration to protect child mental health programs.