My year in Gaza

Available for over a year

On October 7th 2023, Hamas gunmen attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 more hostage. Israel responded with airstrikes and by sending troops into Gaza. The aim was to destroy Hamas’s military and governing capabilities and to secure the release of the hostages. The impact in Gaza has been devastating. Thousands of people have been killed. The United Nations estimates that around 90% of Palestinians have had to leave their homes and are now living in temporary accommodation. This is the first of two documentaries looking at life one year on from both sides of the conflict. We begin with the stories and words of three Palestinian women, whose lives we have been tracking through voice messages. One of the challenges in covering this war has been access: Israel does not allow the BBC – or other international media – to report independently from inside the territory. Elham is 27 years old. She was working in a science lab before the attack. Sanabel is 17 and was a high school student dreaming of becoming an English translator. Her home has been destroyed and her grandma died after an Israeli attack. She has also lost her aunt, uncle, cousins and friends during the war. Batool is 19 and a poet who was studying English Literature at the Islamic University in Gaza. “I hate living in a refugee camp,” says Batool. “There’s no privacy. A lot of fights from nothing. You just sit alone trying to avoid problems and then the fight comes to you.” A Boffin Media production in partnership with BBC producer Kristina Volk and the BBC OS team. (Photo: Elham. Credit: Elham)