Gazans have survived years of war. Now depression is killing them.

GAZA CITY — Fathi Harb wanted to commit suicide by soldier. So he went to a protest this spring along Gaza's border, hoping ­Israeli snipers would shoot him, his grandfather recalled. When they didn't, Harb, 22, tried again, returning to another protest soon after, and again he survived.

Then, last month, he set himself on fire on a busy street in Gaza City, later succumbing to his injuries.

"He called his father right before he did it and told him of his plans," his grandfather Saeed said.

A mental health crisis is gripping the Gaza Strip, experts say, born of repeated wars and the stress of meeting daily needs in this besieged and impoverished Palestinian enclave.