In the months following the October 7th attacks, grief settled heavily across Israel. More than 946 children were orphaned in the wake of the violence, many of them witnessing horrors no child should ever face. For them, the war didn’t just shatter buildings, it tore apart families and the sense of safety that once grounded their world.
“On the night of October 7th, I heard voices saying, 'Daddy is dead.' But I told myself, 'No, he isn't. Think good things, and good things will happen.' I chose hope, and I went to sleep. In the morning, I texted him, 'Good morning, Dad.' He never answered,” shared Yuval, a young girl whose father was murdered that day.
In response to this growing tragedy, Sunflowers, the only organization in Israel dedicated solely to supporting orphaned children, has opened five new trauma recovery centers in Ofakim, Sderot, Ashkelon, Rahat, and Kuseife. These centers provide war orphans with a structured, therapeutic community where healing begins.
“The decision to open these five new centers wasn’t optional: it was a moral imperative,” said Hadar Kess, CEO and founder of Sunflowers. “These are communities that have experienced unbearable personal loss and ongoing instability. The 12-day Israel-Iran war that began on June 12th, was especially hard on our children. For many of them, it retraumatized what they had just begun to process. Some couldn’t sleep. Others reverted to silence or clung to their surviving parent with fear in their eyes.”
Beyond its therapeutic programs, Sunflowers is also leading systemic change. It is the only organization in Israel dedicated solely to orphaned children, and the only one actively working with government ministries to shape national policy. From advising welfare officials to promoting child-focused legislation in the Knesset, Sunflowers ensures that bereaved children are not only supported emotionally, but are also represented in Israel’s corridors of power. For Sunflowers, healing is not just a matter of care, it’s a matter of justice.
Each center offers weekly group therapy, resilience workshops, peer mentoring, and emotional guidance for children and teens, as well as structured support for their surviving parents or guardians. A cornerstone of the model is matching older orphaned teens with younger children, creating relationships of empathy and strength. Sunflowers has also fully integrated newly orphaned children from the war into its national programming, ensuring no child is left behind.
Behind these services are human stories, raw and unfiltered. One mother, speaking at a session in one of the new centers, recalled a moment that captured the depth of her son’s loss.
“I spoke with my son, and he said, 'No one understands me.' The mother told him: 'I understand you!' Then the child said to her: 'No, you don't, because you have a dad, and I don't.'”
Her husband was murdered on October 7th.
Maya Kogan, Director of the Southern Region for Sunflowers, emphasized the long-term emotional burden these children face.
“Children who have lost loved ones to war face deep emotional and social challenges that evolve over time. At Sunflowers, our centers provide a supportive, stable, and inclusive environment that fosters meaningful emotional healing, strengthens their sense of security and belonging, and helps them build lasting resilience.”
The centers serve two age groups, children (7-12) and adolescents (13-18 with tailored therapy and guidance. Each site operates out of local schools during after-school hours and engages 30-40 families. In high-risk areas like the Gaza envelope and the Negev Bedouin towns, where trauma is often compounded by economic and social fragility, these centers offer a lifeline.
Dr. Shiri Medina, the therapist at the Ashkelon Center, shared a powerful reflection on the healing journey she witnessed:
“This year, the war orphans taught me a profound lesson about connection without words, and the power of shared fate in creating a sense of belonging. Their bond with one another formed quickly, yet gently. The same was true of their connection with the therapeutic staff. It felt like the creation of a new family, a bereaved family that knows how to laugh, cry, be angry, share, show compassion, and most of all: accept, love, and contain. I'm grateful for the opportunity to be part of this incredible experience.”
Even before the war, Sunflowers was serving 750 families weekly through 30 centers nationwide. But the sheer scale of loss since October has demanded swift and sensitive expansion. The organization’s trauma-informed approach is based on data from a groundbreaking study conducted in partnership with Bar Ilan and Tel Aviv Universities. The findings are stark: orphaned children are at significantly higher risk of addiction, abuse, exploitation, and dropping out of school.
Yuval and her mother are among the many families who have found solace and strength through Sunflowers’ community of care.
“The Sunflowers organization is like a family,” her mother said.
Yuval agreed: “It’s truly like a family. When my friends ask me, ‘Where are you going?’ I say, ‘I’m going to visit my family.’ It’s fun there, we meet our friends, the staff is amazing, and the activities are fun.”
Her mother added: “At Sunflowers, she feels that everyone is the same. They’re all equal. They all have something in common. They cry, they laugh, they do everything together. I bless the day we came to this place. I really do.”