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[water burbling]
[faint mechanical roaring]
[faint indecipherable remarks]
[woman] When the war started on October 7th,
I was traveling around the world
presenting my last film
that talks about a war I’ve personally experienced
as a teenager in Iran.
As time passed,
images of the Palestinian civilian victims
became unbearable to me.
I decided to go to Cairo
in order to cross through Rafah.
But I couldn’t,
because all the roads to Gaza were blocked
and I was denied access.
[soft whooshing of vehicle]
Instead, I started filming Palestinian refugees
who were just arriving from Gaza.
Through one of them, I came to know Fatem.
Meeting her was like a mirror held in front of me
that made me realize how much both our lives
are conditioned by walls and wars.
We try to send bits of sound and pixels
across the waves of an ocean of disconnection.
[wind gusting]
Each of our conversations could be the last one
as Israeli bombs fall everywhere in Gaza
all the time.
So, every time we connect and I can see her face,
it feels like a miracle.
Hello. Hi! Is that your daughter?
[woman 2] No.
- She’s my friend. - [woman] Oh! Wait.
Let me turn the camera.
Ahlan! What’s your name?
- [girl] Hi! - Hi! Hi, dear.
How are you?
[in Arabic] I’m Sahar, full of colors!
I’m Sepideh.
- [woman 2] Sepideh, right? - Yes.
I see her. Habibti!
[woman 2] It’s okay.
-You know that I’m Fatma. - Yes, of course, yes.
Ahmad told me about you, and--
I’m an independent filmmaker.
Uh, documentary and fiction.
Different types of films, and I-- I’m from--
And I’m in Iran, but I live in France.
I came to Cairo to...
meet Ahmad and his family, you know,
and other Palestinians who’ve arrived here in Cairo.
I wanted to come to Rafah,
but there is no way for me to come.
I mean, we’re blocked here.
Um, so, my English, it’s not excellent.
It’s fine.
Where are you now, your position?
-I’m in North Gaza. - North Gaza.
You live alone, or you’re in your family?
Yeah, me and my family, we are ten.
We live in one room.
And also sleep in one room.
Has your house been destroyed?
Uh, no, but it’s, uh...
[indistinct exchange]
It’s partially destroyed, not totally.
Okay. But you had to leave.
- It’s not safe - Yes, yes.
We were forced to leave our house, because it’s not safe.
-As you know. - But where you are now.
Is it safer now?
-What? - Where you live now.
Is it safer?
It’s-- it’s mostly safe.
Nowhere is safe here in Gaza, you know.
Mm, yes.
And I’m here,
in my friend’s house to, uh...
to have a good internet connection, yes,
because in our area,
there’s no internet connection.
We wake up, uh, early.
Then we wait for the water to come to us.
There’s no water here, never...
our houses, and no electricity, and...
What do you eat? Food?
Ah, what do I eat? Um...
In the-- before one month, before one month,
we mostly ate
everything animals eated.
So, we don’t have, uh, the flour,
or bread, or the vegetables, or fruit,
or chocolate.
I know that chocolate, it’s an extra thing.
But it’s important anyway!
Yeah, I said, the attacks, the Israeli bombing.
Is it, uh, all the time,
or are there moments where it’s calm?
Um, yesterday, yesterday in Beit Lahia,
they bombed, uh, every time, and the bombing...
[inaudible]
...a huge explosion,
and the explosion happened in front of my eyes.
I see the area
and the ground, uh...
[in Arabic] How do you say that?
Shaking, yes, shaking in front of my eyes.
The air was...
It was a very huge explosion.
[Sepideh] How does it feel being a Palestinian
in Gaza today?
- I feel proud. - [Sepideh] Proud?
I feel very proud, because I feel very special.
We are strong and brave
and very important people in the world.
We get used to being like this from when we are children.
Whatever they do to us, however they try to destroy us,
or even if they kill us, we will be, uh...
laughing and living our lives,
whether they want it or not.
They can’t defeat us.
[Sepideh] You believe in that?
Yes! Of course!
Because the strong--
[Sepideh] Strongest thing? What is the strongest thing?
That we have nothing to lose!
We have nothing to lose.
So, every day,
I talk to myself and I tell myself, uh...
"That’s life, Fatma. Live!"
[Sepideh] Have you ever traveled outside Gaza?
Oh, that’s my hope. That’s my dream!
I didn’t get out of my Gaza,
but I can dream...
of getting out.
One of the cities that I want to visit is Tehran.
[Sepideh] Ah!
[Fatma] What?
[Sepideh] I can’t go back to Iran myself.
Oh, why?
[Sepideh] Political reasons.
Because if I go there, they will arrest me.
But I wish you could go to Tehran, I hope soon.
It makes--mmph.
Mmm.
[call ringing]
Ah. Yes.
I have faith, and I have faith that makes me sure
that everything is in Allah’s hands.
[Sepideh] You think this suffering has a purpose?
The suffering is for--
Yes, Allah has--
[Sepideh] Leish, leish. Why? Why?
Allah tells us in the Quran
everything that happens on this earth, on this ground,
it happens for a purpose and for a reason.
There’s no-- there’s nothing that is without a reason.
[Sepideh] I-- I wish I would agree with you.
I don’t know, I-I-I don’t agree with you.
[laughing]
I-I have a...
[indistinct exchange]
I have an experience at this.
- [Sepideh] How old are you? - I’m 24.
[Sepideh] Twenty-four. You’re very young.
My daughter’s age. I have a daughter your age.
- She’s 24. - You’re like my mother.
-I’m a photographer. - Yes, I saw your photos.
I will show you a photograph, I take it before one hour.
-Just a second. - [Sepideh] Yes.
It’s a little bit bright.
- [Fatma] Just one moment... - [Sepideh] Yeah.
[Fatma] Uh, from one month, from one month,
or three weeks,
I come out to the streets
and walking around the streets
and the area which they destroyed,
and I was
very shocked and very amazed
because what had happened.
And then I realized
that the voices that I-I-I was hear
in the previous six months...
It’s this.
It’s this destruction.
And it’s this building
that it was bombed
by the Israeli occupation.
So, I realized everything I was hearing.
Also, I have a recording
for the bombing.
I can share with-- I can share it with you.
[multiple loud explosions]
[indistinct voices]
[explosions continue]
[eerie ambient music playing]
[Sepideh] Wait.
Oh.
[chuckling]
Hi!
Hello!
How are you?
I’m so happy to see you!
Tell me, tell me--
[Fatma] My connection is...
- Does my connection work? - [Sepideh] Well...
[call ringing]
I’m in the sixth floor, and...
...this is my neighborhood.
- Can you see it? - [Sepideh] Yes, of course.
[Fatma] It’s a very incredible destruction.
[Sepideh] Yes, I see the destruction,
I see the buildings, yes.
[Fatma] Yes.
This is my neighborhood.
It’s Al-Tuffah.
[Sepideh] Ah, yes, Al-Tuffah, yes, yes, yes.
Yes, in the north and the east of Gaza.
What?
[Sepideh] Same neighborhood as Ahmad's, Al-Tuffah?
Oh, yes, yes, Ahmad is there.
[Sepideh] You said that they bombed
your neighbor’s house yesterday?
Yes, yes. And there’s two...
two people killed.
[Sepideh] Oh!
- That’s very bad. - That’s the normal.
[Sepideh softly exclaims]
[Sepideh] I don’t know; you know, the normality,
the sense of normality.
I feel very strange, I’m back to Paris now,
and, uh, when I talk to you, um,
what is normal for you, it’s so un-normal,
not normal, it’s abnormal, it so terrible,
and-and I feel weird
when you describe this to me with this smile.
I feel you, because, uh, the people--
When-when you are living in the same situation of me,
I hope you didn’t live what I live, but...
When you live all things that, uh--us,
we’re just used to this,
but we don’t used to this anymore.
Because we don’t used to killing,
or bombing, or, uh, this suffering.
We used to-- to continue our lives.
-Can you understand me? - [Sepideh] Yes.
We used to, but we don’t used to.
Can you-- can you understand me?
[Sepideh] Well, I-I think I understand
that you are not used to it,
but you try to live your lives,
even during the war.
Yes, yes, that’s-- that’s exactly what I mean.
To describe what we are passing.
And we are live a very simple life,
and they want to take this simple life from us. Why?
I-I’m 24, and I don’t live anything...
and I don’t have anything that I want.
Because when you reach to what you are want,
there’s wall.
They put a wall instead of you.
So, you reach and don’t reach.
You reach, but you don’t take what you are dreaming of.
Because of the borders and the, uh...
this occupation.
[sighs]
[exclaims]
[clicking]
[Sepideh] It’s okay, continue.
I’m waiting for you.
[call beeping]
[distant siren]
Um...
[musical tones]
You are going to suffer with me now...
[chuckling]
[no audio]
Because of the internet, but it’s okay.
[Sepideh] It’s okay.
So, I was talking about
how we are-- have a very simple life,
and they want to take this simple life...
[call ringing]
Call over
[Fatma] Uh, the connection is very bad here,
and I must go to my home,
and, uh, because-- because time is too late.
And we will talk tomorrow, if you are-- have time,
and I’m so happy to see you again.
[woman] Further north, there’s been a massive bombardment
in Gaza City.
[eerie ambient music playing]
Witnesses captured the moment of an impact of an airstrike
in a residential area.
The health ministry says at least 48 people
have been killed across Gaza in the past day.
It makes the total number of people killed
to just over 34,000,
and that includes more than 14,500 children.
[Sepideh exclaims]
- How are you? - I’m so fine, how are you, too?
[Sepideh] I’m good, I’m good, I’m happy you’re back.
- Ahlan, my friend. - Ahlan, my dear.
[Sepideh] What time is it now? It’s, um, 3:30?
It’s three-- yes.
[Sepideh] Half past three, okay.
We have the same time.
[Sepideh] One-hour difference.
I’m in my friend’s house
to get a good connection to talk to you.
[Sepideh] Good. How do you manage to charge the--
I mean, your telephone and computer?
Is it okay? ’Cause you said you have no electricity.
Yes, I-I-I’m charging it now.
[Sepideh] Okay.
[Fatma] Can you see them? I’m checking this now.
For two months, just two months,
we can’t go out of home
or, uh, go to long distances
because there was...
[unintelligible] already.
- The sniper. - [Sepideh] Sniper.
There was snipers everywhere.
Just sit in our homes and didn’t get out of it,
because if they see me, if they see us,
they will kill us.
[Sepideh] And you’re not afraid?
Afraid of what?
[Sepideh] Well, you know.
The war, the killing.
I... I don’t afraid from anything.
[Sepideh] Is it possible that you take the camera out
and show me a little bit outside, how it is now?
[in Arabic] Just a moment.
Um...
Here, there’s the house of my first cousin.
They bombed it before one month,
and they killed a whole family,
the whole family.
You can see the view?
It’s the house by house.
[Sepideh] Did you lose anybody in the war?
- Of your family? - Yes, I lost 11...13 persons.
[Sepideh] Thirteen people, you lost?
Yes. It was my dearest person,
and my grandmother and my uncle,
my... my, uh... there was very...
There was my dearest.
[Sepideh] Of course.
[in Arabic] I’m so sorry.
[Fatma] No, it’s okay, it’s okay.
[Sepideh] No, it’s not okay.
[she laughs ruefully]
Oh!
- Who else did you lose? - [Fatma] We always lose.
[Sepideh] Can you tell me their names?
Can you tell me their names?
[Fatma] My uncle’s name is Saadi,
and his daughter, Sojoud, and his son, Zeid,
and his wife, Bassima,
and my grandmother, her name is Fatima also,
their grandchildren.
His name is Doa’a, and Basseema... and Bassma,
and Mohammad and Saadi.
And Hassan, Hassan he was just one year... just.
[Sepideh exclaims]
[in Arabic] I believe that...
if the occupation ends,
it will affect the conflicts all over the world.
Not only in Palestine. I’m sure...
that if the war ends in Palestine,
the war will end everywhere.
[Sepideh] I’m not sure all the wars will end,
but I-I-I want to believe you.
I want to believe you.
Try.
[Sepideh] I try, I try.
Do you pray sometimes?
Yes.
- [Sepideh] You do? - I’m a Muslim.
[Sepideh] And what do you pray for?
I pray for peace,
and this war to end, and uh, the...
and the occupation, uh, end.
[Sepideh] I’m quite skeptical, you know?
Uh-huh, uh-huh.
[Sepideh] I don’t-- I don’t believe in that, but, uh,
it’s interesting.
I mean, I guess it makes, um, things easier for you,
to believe in something, to hold to it.
Yes!
[Sepideh] I would ask God
why he put this war in front of you.
If I were you, I would ask him.
[laughter]
I-I feel you, and I understand these words from you.
[Sepideh] Wait. I need to open the door for my cat.
- Just a second. - Okay!
I like cats!
[in French] Miss Narenj! Come on in!
- Here you are! - [door closes]
Oop!
You told me that you might be able
to read me a poem, of one of your poems, right?
Uh, yes, yes.
[Sepideh] Do you have one ready?
Just one minute.
Ready.
"The Man Who Wore His Eyes."
[repeats title in Arabic]
[in Arabic] I don’t have a way
To recognize Two mysterious eyes
And to believe
I don’t have a clear Unique story
That a stranger Could believe in
And make his own
I have no perfect Physical characteristics
To fly defying gravity
And to believe
Perhaps I’ll begin my dying
Now
Before the man standing In front of me
Readies his sniper rifle
So he can end it So I can end
Silence
Are you a fish?
I did not respond When the sea asked me
And I did not know
Where these crows came from
That fell upon my flesh
Anyway, would it have been Reasonable even if I said yes
For these crows To devour a fish?
I passed through Without passing through
My death passed through me
A sniper’s bullet Passed through me
And I became an angel
In the eyes of a city
Immense Greater than my dreams
Greater than this city
I became a poet-saint
In the eyes of a forest
A hermit
Taking a cypress As an offering
An Orange hell In the eyes of a rifle
And I was another universe
And in the end I became a world apart
In the eyes of God
But in the end I am a fish
That is what the sniper saw
And that is what I was looking for
On the face of the man Who was wearing my eyes
And that I did not find
As I fluttered my gills
And, I admit I lied
When I said That death is hideous
Death is delicious
But none of us Has ever tasted its flavor
[eerie music playing]
Hamas has had the deal for about four days now,
and there have been-- since yesterday,
we were expected a response yesterday, then tonight,
and now, it seems that it could still be
a couple of days away.
It looks like Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas,
is questioning certain things in the deal, clarifying,
and potentially may even come back with amendments.
It’s-- it’s not clear at the moment.
What we do know is that there are
two very opposing points of demands,
is that Hamas says it will only negotiate
if there is a full cessation of hostilities,
meaning an end to the war,
and it’s not negotiating on that,
and the Israeli prime minister says,
"There’s not gonna be an end to the war,
and we are going into Rafah, whatever happens."
So, publicly, these are two opposing sides
that are impossible, really, to reconcile. What is--
[door creaks]
[door closes]
[footsteps]
[curtain clatters]
[exclaims softly]
[call ringing]
[indistinct remark]
- Hi. - [Sepideh] Hi, habibti.
You look good! You look good.
How are you?
[Sepideh] I’m okay. I’m-- I’m with you.
[Sepideh laughs]
You know, uh, Canada is six hours...
no, seven hours behind you, so...
You’re in France or Canada?
[Sepideh] Yes-- yes, I’m in Canada.
I showed my film yesterday,
and I will show it again today, tonight.
And, uh, it was really nice, it was really nice.
I talked about-- when I was presenting,
I talked about, um,
the Iranian artists
and people who are fighting in Iran,
the one who has been condemned to death.
And also, I talked about Palestine,
and people were very moved, the audience.
It doesn’t help you--
That’s very nice,
that you are talking about us.
[Sepideh] It’s the first time I’m seeing your eyes,
because you don’t have glasses.
Um, you have brown eyes, right?
- [speaking in Arabic] - Um, it’s green.
[Sepideh] Green! That’s why-- okay, okay.
Ah! Who’s that?
I see someone there.
- Who is-- hello. - [Fatma] That’s my brother.
[Sepideh, in Arabic] Hello. Greetings to you.
- He’s very shy. - [Sepideh] What is his name?
- [Fatma] Muhannad. - [Sepideh] Muhannad? Okay.
[in Arabic] How are you doing?
[in Arabic] I’m fine, thanks.
He have, uh, 20 years old.
[Sepideh] The planes are gone?
I don’t hear the airplanes now.
The sound is so far, but they’re still here.
They cannot-- they cannot be gone.
They are here 24 hours, seven days.
[Sepideh] About the ceasefire, it was really...
a desperate situation,
because I really believed in it as well.
Everybody was so excited, um, about the...
[inaudible]
We are, too!
We go to the roof,
and we have been just celebrating.
All of the city, it was celebrating.
Uh, they say, "Yaa!", and they were so happy.
[Sepideh] Yes. And also, this thing that, you know,
in Rafah, they-they-they threw papers from the airplanes
to tell people in Rafah to leave
and to go to Khan Yunis.
Do they do that?
They are called manasheer, meaning papers.
They tell us to get out from our homes.
And bomb it!
That’s very...
That’s a very, uh, silly thing.
This building-- this, this--
It’s, uh, from the, uh... Can you see it?
[Sepideh] Yes.
[Fatma] This.
It’s in the, um, basic [unintelligible],
so, this will drop.
No one lives here, or here, or here, or here, or there.
Or there. There’s no one.
There are two families besides us.
It’s, uh...
- What is it? - The lady.
- I’m talking! - Just to see her.
[Sepideh] What?
What?
What does he want?
This is the first time he saw a woman like you,
a foreign woman.
[laughter]
[Sepideh] It’s okay.
I’m a friend.
I’m a friend, tell him.
[Sepideh speaks Arabic]
[Fatma] My internet...
My internet is very poor.
[Sepideh] The internet problem,
we also have the same in Iran.
The internet. I-I can’t talk to my mother.
Because there’s no-- the connection.
The regime does the same.
They cut the internet in Iran.
So, Iranians from outside and inside, like me and my mother,
we can’t talk.
- We can just text messages. - Oh!
[Sepideh] Yeah, it’s the same thing.
You can’t hear her or listen her voice?
[Sepideh] It’s very difficult, if you don’t have a VPN.
It doesn’t work, and my mother doesn’t have it.
I-I didn’t hear it, it was cut.
I say, I dream...
to study outside of Gaza, photography and lighting.
Because I feel I can’t touch the rest of the world
outside Gaza.
And I’m sure that it’s there.
The world out of Gaza, because we are in a box...
We just see the box!
But we can’t know what is going on outside,
or in the other, uh, cities out of Gaza.
[Sepideh] Yes, I mean, ah, what to say?
This has to finish, and then,
maybe we get you out of Gaza.
Listen, take care,
and send me the images as soon as you can,
and then, we will talk tomorrow, or whenever you can.
- Thank you; I will. - Please keep up!
Okay!
[drone of distant plane engine]
[indistinct children’s voices]
[Fatma] The army is entering Rafah...
and they are in the...
are crossing Rafah.
[she sighs heavily]
I don’t know how
we will continue our lives.
It’s very hard, what’s happening.
It’s very hard.
I don’t know if this will end or not.
Or when it...
all of this will end, but...
I feel I’m so tired.
Because all... all of what’s happening,
I’m very...
empty, and very...
tragedy, and...
not true, around, aroundly, or...
I don’t know what is the suitable word, but...
[sighs deeply]
I hoped the ceasefire
apply on the few hours come.
But it, uh, it failed.
Yesterday, it failed.
They-- they told us that it’s failed.
But I hope that Israel
responds to us or to Hamas
and agree about the ceasefire.
[faint drone of engine]
Everything okay? I don’t know.
Not everything okay.
Um, my friend that, uh,
my friend that, I am going to her house
to open my internet.
His neighbor is bombed this morning
on 5 a.m., and, uh...
and he and his son and daughter, they are killed.
I think the war start again.
[distant birds squawking]
[in French] An operation on Rafah that
the Israeli defense minister is threatening to pursue
if the truce agreement doesn’t guarantee
the return of the hostages.
After a moment of hope on Monday, the deal fell apart.
There will be negotiations.
An Israeli delegation is in Cairo, Egypt.
The last chance, according to Hamas, to free the hostages.
The police were called into the Sorbonne.
Several hundred protesters had occupied a hall...
[call ringing]
[Sepideh] Hi! I’m happy you can connect.
[in Arabic] Hello... good morning.
[Fatma] This is my dad.
[Sepideh] Yes! Nice to meet you!
[Fatma] He’s asking you when this war will end.
[Sepideh] What? He asked me when this will end?
[Fatma] When this war will end.
We are all asking this.
[Sepideh] This is-- we are facing crazy people!
They are majnoun.
[Sepideh chuckles]
I don’t know.
I think it will end if, uh...
the Americans finally decide to...
not to back Israel.
I think, I don’t know.
[Fatma] This is my brother.
[Sepideh] Hello. Hey!
[in Arabic] How are you?
[in Arabic] Fine, thanks.
[Sepideh] How old is he?
He is, uh, 15.
[Sepideh] What is he doing with his time?
He is, uh...
Hold the water-- bring the water to us
and bring the wood
for us to make the fire and cook
and do our days.
[Sepideh] Okay. And what about your older brother?
- The second one? - They do the same.
- [Sepideh] They do the same? - They do the same.
[Sepideh] Okay. I saw some images
that they are also throwing phosphorus bombs.
There’s phosphorus in all of Gaza.
[Sepideh] Have you ever had that experience
of a phosphor bomb?
You?
I see... I see, uh, I see the phosphor when it was...
When I was young... younger than this,
when they bombed Jabalia.
When they were, uh...
uh, drop it on Jabalia,
and I see this in front of my eyes.
I cannot, uh...
I cannot forget this from my head.
[Sepideh] Leaving Gaza... You don’t want to leave Gaza?
No, I don’t want. I...
I want to travel around the world. But, uh...
In the end, come back to Gaza.
[Sepideh] Yes...
- Do you understand my words? - [Sepideh] Yes.
Yes, I do understand. I’m thinking about your words.
I do understand, yes.
At some point...
forty years ago, it’s a long time ago,
I decided to leave my country, you know?
Uh, I made this decision, I was 18.
I was banned from studying, I couldn’t do anything.
And I decided to leave, but...
I remember now, when I think back,
I was thinking,
"I will come back in six months, in a year."
But it never really happened.
I mean, when you leave, your life changes.
- It’s never the same. - Yes, because you find...
[Sepideh] I didn’t hear it. "I will feel..."
What did you say?
Again...
Um... I forgot what I say!
[laughter]
[Sepideh] Is it very chaotic in your head now?
Yes... yes.
- [Sepideh] Worries? - I feel like, uh...
my head is full of, uh...
ideas and full of words and whispers.
Um, I was dream about my grandfather...
my uncle that has died...
I was dream about...
They were waiting at school, in my school.
Take my grandma’s hand as she walked, uh...
uh, taking my hand.
And, uh, we walked.
Her life, in her last days before she died...
she was, uh...
She was always calling me and tell me,
"No. No, Fatma. Please just stay with me.
After two weeks...
...they killed her.
I can’t see there, uh, before they buried her.
[Sepideh] Aw.
I’m sorry.
- I’m sorry. - [Sepideh] No, I am sorry.
I’m sorry. I ask you hard questions.
- Sorry. Sorry, dear. - No, it’s okay.
I was very [indistinct]... very much.
I went to the house that is destroyed.
- [Sepideh] Okay. - Bombed...
I will... I will send you the picture of the house.
- [Sepideh] Okay. - We cannot find anything.
Except... except the things that flied.
We find my... my, uh...
...my wife of uncle,
we found her head in another street.
[indistinct]
We find just her head.
[Sepideh] No.
Yes, it’s separated from her body.
They found it in the other street.
So... very hard thing.
[sighs]
I don’t even know if they buried her or not.
So we cannot say goodbye to them.
Go...
Go without any goodbyes.
Just like this.
[sighs]
[Sepideh] Your grandma... did she, um,
sing lullabies for you?
You know what a lullaby is?
- [in Arabic] What is a lullaby? - Lullaby is lalaei...
[singing in Farsi]
- Like that. - No, I don’t know that.
[Sepideh] No?
You know, the rhymes that they sing to children.
She used to do this move on my back.
[Sepideh] Okay.
To sleep.
[Sepideh] Okay.
Yes.
[Sepideh] I will be travelling in a couple of hours,
I fly to Paris.
And then tomorrow at noon, I fly to Morocco.
- To Maghreb. - Oh, that’s very great!
[laughter]
This life... I want this life!
[laughter]
You fly everywhere.
Israel will not allow Hamas to return to rule in Gaza.
We will not allow them
to rebuild their military capabilities
and continue the project of destroying us.
Israel will not approve any proposal
that constitutes a threat to Israel’s security and future.
For that reason,
I have ordered our delegation that went to Cairo,
to continue to insist on our demands
to guarantee our security.
In parallel, we will continue our war against Hamas.
Our entry into Rafah is a very important step.
Our army is on its way
to destroy the remainder of their capabilities.
And border officials on both sides
have been asked to leave the area.
And aid agencies are warning
that the interruption of aid entry will halt
what is this critical humanitarian response
across the entire Gaza strip.
Israel is also targeting Rafah with airstrikes,
overnight and into this morning,
killing at least 23.
And I think it’s important to know
that Rafah has been hit with airstrikes
for days and weeks now,
killing hundreds of people,
many residents have now been told to evacuate.
[cell phone ringing]
Oh, hi... How are you?
I’m fine, how are you?
[Sepideh] Okay. I’m fine, I’m fine.
- I’m happy to see you again. - Me too.
[Sepideh laughs]
[Sepideh] It’s been quite a few days!
Yes.
[laughter]
- How are you? - [Sepideh] I’m okay.
Wait a second, I’m gonna put the sound louder.
I hope it works this time...
- Okay. - [Sepideh] Yes!
I always forget to do this before...
Ah, white scarf!
- Yes. - It changes your face a lot!
Yeah, it’s gray.
[cell phone beeping]
[Sepideh] So how are things? Tell me a little bit...
It’s a mess, no?
Yes, it’s a very messy situation.
Uh, the Israeli army is in the neighborhood
that is next to us.
So, they are playing.
Playing and destroying buildings
and breaking everything that--
[cell phone beeping]
Do you... do you understand what I mean?
[Sepideh] No, it... it cuts all the time.
I’m not sure I understood you.
[cell phone beeping]
I said that if we don’t do what we’re doing now,
when will we do this?
When will we, uh, photograph this war...
[cell phone beeping]
...take pictures or, um...
document all the suffering?
And who will do this?
[Sepideh] Do you want to come out?
Uh, go out...
[cell phone beeping]
I think my Gaza needs me in this time.
Um...
It’s hard,
and it’s a very difficult decision.
[Sepideh] Um...
[cell phone beeping]
- What? - [Sepideh] Nothing.
[Sepideh laughs]
I’m just looking at you.
Today, I just took photos to Al Andonisi hospital.
[Sepideh] Okay.
It’s... It was burned... It was pretty burned.
The second and third floor, it was totally burnt.
So it was, uh, like...
Well, you feel like you are in a film.
[Sepideh] My cat is coming, let me open the door.
I come back. Okay?
Just one second.
[in Arabic] Narenj, I’m coming.
Narenj...
Oh oh... wait a minute.
I’m coming. What shall I do with you two?
Come on in! I keep calling you, but then you never come!
What do you want? You...
My monkey face... Let’s go.
Come on.
Pishi, wait a second.
Wait... Just a tiny moment.
Look...
Oh, he’s cute!
[laughter]
- Very cute! - [Sepideh] Yes.
[laughter]
On the night...
At the 6th of October...
I was in a café.
And just took the shekel note and looked at it.
So, I just see woman...
[cell phone beeping]
...that they copy in the paper.
Just... I was just asking myself...
This money is Israeli money.
Why they are stealing even our money?
[Sepideh] Mm-hm.
And our...
uh...
our... our traditions
and our nation and our everything.
Because they... I think they want to steal everything.
From, uh... from the tiny things to the huge things.
Like the... like money and, uh,
eat... and foods and sweets and everything.
They are steal falafels,
and they... they told the world
that hummus and falafel, it’s from their tradition.
But it’s from our tradition.
It’s a Palestinian...
It’s a Palestinian food!
[Sepideh] Are you drinking coffee?
Yes, Arabic coffee.
[laughter]
[Fatma] It’s from the market and, uh, make it by our hands.
[fire crackling]
It’s the only thing that you can, uh,
you can drink and imagine that life makes sense.
[Sepideh] When we... When we talk about the coffee,
I think of Mahmoud Darwish of course!
[Fatma] Yes, yes, there’s a connection
of coffee with Mahmoud.
[Sepideh] Yes, I do.
"With due regard
to internationally accepted norms
and principles of Human Rights
and the rule of law."
End of quote.
The court recalls
that considered in its whole opinion
that the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people,
recognized in the Oslo Accords,
includes the right to self-determination.
The court observes
that in interpreting the Oslo Accords,
it’s necessary to take into account Article 47
of the fourth Geneva Convention,
which provides that the protected population
shall not be deprived
of the benefits of the convention,
and I quote,
"By any agreement concluded
between the authorities of the occupied territories
and the occupying power,"
end of quote,
with its obligations under international law.
In particular,
the court analysis examines in terms
the question of the prolonged occupation
as well as the policy of settlement,
the annexation of the Palestinian territories,
occupied since 1967,
and its adoption of related legislation
and measures that are allegedly discriminatory.
[cell phone ringing]
[anchor] Prevent the cross-border exchange of fire
from becoming a wider war
that would bring with it yet more suffering.
[Fatma] Just a minute, [indistinct].
I will close the door.
I just closed the door,
because the wind is terrible.
Sorry, it makes some noise.
Okay.
[Sepideh] Tell me how it was, describe to me, um...
On October 7th, what were you doing,
and how did things start?
Do you remember clearly?
Yes, I remember.
So, at 7:00 a.m.,
I just woke up from my... my deep sleeping.
And then I open my window
and I see a very huge number of white lines in the sky.
- [Sepideh] Mm-hm. - Um...
First of the time,
I didn’t, uh, understand what was happening.
I just told myself that it’s something...
Like, uh...
It’s like everywhere.
But this time, it was different.
[indistinct speaking]
[Sepideh] Ah, okay.
You mean you didn’t know who started the war.
Yes, yes, we didn’t know who had started the war.
[Sepideh] Now that you look back,
it’s eight, nine months later,
how do you feel about that moment?
Because it’s ambivalent, right?
[in Arabic] It would be much easier
if I could say it in Arabic.
[laughing]
Okay, I will try to describe it in English.
I can’t, uh, exactly...
how or what I feel about 7th of October,
or when I...
- [rumbling] - Oh. You know.
You can hear this sound?
It’s the sound of Apache.
[Sepideh] Sound of what?
A sound of an Apache.
[Sepideh] Apache. Ah, the helicopter?
[inaudible]
- [Sepideh] Okay. - Yes.
[Sepideh] Okay.
So, uh, when I...
[Sepideh] What do they use it for?
They killed us!
[Sepideh] No, I mean they shoot from...
with the Apaches they shoot?
- Yes. - [Sepideh] Oh.
When I... when I go back and, uh,
think about what has happened 7th of October,
we showed the world that...
that... that even if we haven’t weapons or bombs...
or enough military equipment, uh,
we can fight for our land,
and we can, uh, still resistance.
I just don’t want to talk about it,
because when I think about it,
like, it’s just a moment and I will get depressed.
[Sepideh] Um, about the food situation,
since last night, you wrote, for the first time,
this word "starvation."
Here you can die by bombing.
Or, uh, or fear.
Or starvation.
You have very...
Have many, many options to die here
in the south of Gaza.
So, I think this starvation, it’s, uh...
It’s very difficult on us and very hard.
We have nothing to eat.
When your brother asks your mom,
"What will we eat now, or today?"
And she told him, "We’ll get nothing,
because there’s nothing to eat."
We didn’t even think of this, even in our dreams.
But this is happening.
This is happening
We are starving.
[distant popping]
I just sit with a-a girl,
have just eight years.
And I asked her, "What do you want from life?"
And she told me, "I want to die."
People are dying, we know that for sure.
[translator translates in French]
And we’re talking about people’s lives.
[anchor] A bit earlier today, several thousand people,
gathered in front of the UNICEF office in Tel Aviv
to make the UN put pressure to free the child hostages.
There are 35 child hostages,
including a baby who was born in captivity.
They’re our children,
belong to our families, our blood.
Even if we’re not relatives,
we all form a big family and have to fight together.
According to Washington, a deal is very close
to free several dozens of hostages.
Mr. President, a deal about the hostages, is it close?
I think so, but I’m not ready to talk about it.
- [man] Do you believe it? - Yes.
[audio popping]
[drones whirring]
[laughter]
I feel like I’m...
I’m separated from things.
[Sepideh] Yes.
Wait a second, let me just, um, uh,
close the window as well.
One second.
- What? - One second, one second.
[window closing]
We came to... we came to Italy...
I’m in Italy now. In Florence.
One of my dreams...
One of my dreams is to travel to Rome.
[Sepideh] Ah.
- Okay. - Travel to the Vatican.
[Sepideh] If you come...
I have friends. I can send you to my friends in Rome.
Yes, I wanted to visit one museum.
[Sepideh] Yeah. What’s wrong with your hijab?
You’re just doing this all the time.
What is it?
It’s very messy.
[Sepideh] No, it’s fine.
[Sepideh laughs]
You want to redo it?
- You want to redo it? - What?
[Sepideh] You want to put it again?
No, no, it’s okay.
[Sepideh] It’s okay.
I haven’t... I’ve never seen your hair, you know?
Yes, because you’re recording.
[Sepideh] Yes, I know.
So, it’s, uh... I cannot, uh...
make you see it, but, uh,
when we... when we be alone, I can.
- [Sepideh] Yes. - I’ll let you see it,
let you see.
[Sepideh] When did you start wearing it... wearing hijab?
At what age?
Um, 13.
[Sepideh] Thirteen? Okay.
Yes.
[Sepideh] Because you wanted or because the society,
um, kind of imposes?
No, it’s because our religion,
and because I was...
tall and I... I was looking bigger than my age.
[Sepideh] Ah.
Yes.
So my mom was told me, "This is better.
This is for you."
And, uh, to be always protect.
So... yes.
[Sepideh] But are there girls
who don’t wear hijab in Palestine?
Or...
- I don’t see any... - Yes, there are lots of them.
[Sepideh] Okay.
There’s a lot of girls that don’t wear hijab.
[Sepideh] Okay.
Because most of the ones I see in the photos, um,
or films, they all wear hijab, that’s why I was wondering.
[plane engine humming]
Uh, it’s, uh, it’s different...
different from person to person
and family to family.
[Sepideh] Okay.
Have you lost weight because of the food?
Yes, of course.
Of course.
Now I...
you... you see my... my mind is very, uh, messy,
and I have no focus,
because I have no healthy food,
or good food even,
so I feel that I can’t even, um...
stand up.
You know?
And I can’t talk even.
Every day I told my mom,
"I want a chicken."
I hope or I wish if we had just chicken,
because, uh, we didn’t eat it for nine months.
[Sepideh] We met the first time I think two months ago,
and it was already seven months of the war.
And you told me you had chicken once, I think.
I... I was watching the...
[laughter]
Now, that’s my biggest dream!
To have one chicken and one chocolate.
[laughter]
Yes, I told my friend in the South...
"Just send me one chocolate, one chocolate."
I miss... I miss everything, I miss my life.
I miss my... the food that was my mom cooked.
The chocolate and Nescafé and coffee.
Everything.
[Sepideh] I hear the drones, flying over.
[whistling]
- The drones? - Yes, the planes, the airplanes.
[indistinct]
- Drone, yes. - The door?
- [Sepideh] No, drone... drone. - What about it?
[Sepideh] No, nothing! It’s... I hear it.
Why did they start attacking Al-Shuja’iyya all of a sudden?
Why?
What?
[Sepideh] Why Al-Shuja’iyya all of a sudden?
We don’t know.
There’s no reason... reason for anything that they do.
Yes, they do everything to destroy our city.
And, uh,
to erase the remains from our mind.
Al-Shuja’iyya is in front of me.
There to there.
[drones whirring]
Um, you see the burn?
The... the places that burned?
I don’t... I... I don’t know if you...
[Sepideh] The smoke, yes, I can see the smoke.
[Fatma] Yes, the black smoke here.
[Sepideh] Mm-hm.
[Fatma] Yes.
That... there the army.
According to the United Nations,
hospital and medical facilities
have been attacked more than 600 times.
Schools attacked more than 200.
Hundreds of houses of worship destroyed.
And 169 UN facilities have been attacked.
That’s not highlighted in the report.
[dramatic music playing]
But they argue the law does not have to be invoked,
because Israel is investigating.
[anchor] Passed away peacefully this afternoon
at the age of 93.
[anchor] The world of baseball has been paying tribute
to one of it’s all-time greats.
Willie Mays has died at the age of 93.
Twenty-four time All-Star,
his most talked about career highlight
became known simply as The Catch...
[indistinct speaking]
[cell phone ringing]
- [Fatma] Hi. - [Sepideh] Hi.
Wow, Look at you!
[Fatma] I want to wear something.
Where are you? What happened?
[chuckling]
I’m waiting... I’m waiting for you to get ready.
So...
I’m sorry that in the previous period...
In the last few days, [indistinct]...
No problem, no problem.
I’m sorry, so...
But, uh...
Where are you now? In your shelter?
[cell phone beeping]
Ah. You are...
Where are you? At your shelter?
Where are you now?
Do you hear me?
[chuckling]
Can you hear me?
- I’m in my shelter. - [Sepideh] Okay.
The news are very bad. How are things?
How are... how are things?
They’re bombing Jabalia, right?
- [cell phone beeping] - [sighing, clearing throat]
Connection is very poor...
I said they’re bombing near your place, right?
I can’t hear you.
[Sepideh] You can’t see me?
[Fatma] Um, this is our room.
[Sepideh] Who is there now with you?
Everybody? All your family?
[in Arabic] It’s Fatem!
- [man] She all right? - [Sepideh] She’s fine.
We were worried... we were really worried about you!
[Fatma] Sleeping.
- This is my stuff. - [Sepideh] Okay.
[Fatma] This is my everything...
- [Sepideh] This is your... - [Fatma] It’s a mess.
- [Sepideh] It’s okay.
But where... where are the others?
Your family? Where are they?
[indistinct speaking]
[Fatma] Yes.
[Sepideh] Are you alone?
[cell phone ringing]
- Hi. - Ah, much better!
No, not much better.
Hm.
[soft music playing]
[Fatma] ♪ Like children ♪
♪ I dream of swings ♪
♪ Like children ♪
♪ I dream of swings ♪
♪ They heard me sing ♪
♪ And said it must be The song of the wind ♪
♪ They heard me sing ♪
♪ And said it must be The song of the wind ♪
♪ Oh, sweet breeze ♪
♪ My heart is ill ♪
♪ Oh, sweet breeze ♪
♪ My heart is ill ♪
♪ And my heart and my eyes ♪
♪ Have seen so much And yet so little ♪
♪ And my heart and my eyes ♪
♪ Have seen so much And yet so little ♪
♪ Oh, sweet breeze ♪
♪ My heart is ill ♪
♪ If there is some room Left in the heart ♪
♪ If there is room left ♪
♪ Keep a little room ♪
[cell phone ringing]
- Hi. - [Sepideh] Hi.
Where are you now?
Oh, I know. I know. Your friend’s house!
The wall behind you.
It’s almost sunset, no?
- Yes. - [Sepideh] Mm.
- The nice... - It’s the golden hour.
- [Sepideh] What? - I call this the golden hour.
[Sepideh] Yes, it is the golden hour.
Yes.
It’s beautiful for photography, if you could go out.
Yes.
[Sepideh] Very nice light, yes.
And the light is nice on your face
when you’re in the sun.
- Yes. - [Sepideh] You go back a bit.
Yes, exactly.
Yeah.
It looks a little bit like a painting.
[Sepideh laughs]
Looks like a painting on your face.
Yes, yes, yeah.
[Sepideh] Tell me about the song you sent me.
It’s a very nice one.
Yes, you... you heard it?
[Sepideh] Yes, of course. Immediately.
Very nice. I liked it.
Yes, I did it for two years.
I had a guitar, but I bought it.
- [Sepideh] You sold it. - I sell it.
- [Sepideh] What did you do? - For my laptop.
To... to buy a laptop.
[Sepideh] But do you sing...
to sing still, to keep singing?
Is it a serious thing for you?
Uh, no.
[Sepideh] No.
I sing for me, and for my friends,
and, uh, for my close people.
[Sepideh] But it’s a hobby?
- Yes. - [Sepideh] Okay.
So the serious thing is what?
Photography and...
Photography more,
because... this is my world.
I find myself in this.
Before the war, I just take the beautiful photos
for beautiful people, for beautiful places.
But now you can see this picture.
It... it contains for just black,
the sadness and destruction.
But I’m trying to find some life in this world,
in this death.
They bombed all the night.
Last night, they bombed all the night.
And they [indistinct] us.
[Sepideh] How? Missiles from tanks, shelling?
- What kind of... - No, it’s, uh, missiles.
- [Sepideh] Missiles. - [indistinct].
Yes, and F-16... and F-16s.
[Sepideh] F-16? You mean the airplane, they throw bombs?
Yes, yes, yes.
[Sepideh] Aw.
Is there a hospital still working there?
Because I heard that, um, al-Aqsa is also stopping.
There is just one hospital.
[Sepideh] Yeah.
Al-Maamadani.
Uh, it’s the only hospital here.
[Sepideh] Oh.
Terrible, yes?
[Sepideh] It is. It’s just...
Yes.
[Sepideh sighs]
This is my niece of my friend.
[Sepideh] Sahar! This is Sahar!
Yes, I know her.
I met her the first day.
Ahlan Sahar... habibti...
I love you.
[Sepideh] How are you?
Yes, me too... I love you.
She’s four, right? She’s four years old?
- Yes. - [Sepideh] Yeah, I remember.
She was there the first time we talked.
This is Hussam!
I will take him as a husband to my daughter!
[Sepideh] Oh, baby... - [Fatma] I love them.
[Sepideh] Oh, yes, of course.
You were distributing food today, right?
Oh, yes, yes.
[Sepideh] You did it?
We... we made the rice.
And, uh, distributed it, uh,
for people in the schools and...
[Sepideh] How many people did you feed today?
- Ah, yes, one thousand. - [Sepideh] Wow...
That’s huge!
Have you eaten yourself?
Eat? No, no.
[Sepideh] No?
No, but we...
my friend made me some, uh, noodles,
some IndoMie, we call it IndoMie.
- And this is the first time. - [Sepideh] Okay.
I will... I’m going to let you go and eat now,
because you have to eat also!
Nutritional and medical supply for 10,000 children.
We had all the approvals.
We were going to Gaza City
from Deir al-Balah and then from here.
Uh, it’s basically a 40-kilometer round trip.
It took 13 hours,
and we spent eight of those around check-points,
arguing around paperwork,
was it a truck, was it a van.
All sorts of he said, she said.
The reality is this truck was then denied access.
So those 10,000 children did not get that aid.
Now UNICEF will go back again,
but it’s not as easy as returning the next day.
Because of how dangerous this is a place to operate,
remembering Israel as the occupying power
has the legal responsibility to facilitate that aid,
we must have armored vehicles with our convoys, right?
UNICEF also does... does sanitation,
we do water, we do...
[phone ringing]
- [explosion] - [woman gasps]
- [gunfire] - [woman whimpers]
[indistinct conversations]
[door squeaking]
[muffled gunfire]
[phone ringing]
[crickets chirring]
- Hi, Sepideh. - Hi.
Hi, hi, hi, dear.
Where are you?
I’m in the home.
[Sepideh] At your house?
No.
Yes?
When did you get back, this morning?
You went back home?
Yesterday.
Today...
Uh, yes, yesterday.
The same time.
[Sepideh] Okay.
I’m sorry, dear, oh.
[plane droning]
Yes.
[Sepideh] And is the bombing still on?
Or, no, it’s stopped?
Yes, there’s a lot of bombing.
My friend Mona, you know her...
[Sepideh] Yes, yes, I know.
Uh, the army is in her area.
[Sepideh] Yeah.
She cannot go out or...
do anything, or evacuate her house.
They told us, "Evacuate to the west."
And we evacuated.
- [Sepideh] Who told you to... - And they bombed us.
- What? - How they tell you to evacuate?
[in Arabic] With pamphlets?
Yes, and calls.
I just see all the people evacuating
and run and walking.
So, we evacuated and go to the west.
To al-Sana’a.
We evacuated from al-Tuffah, the day before yesterday.
[Sepideh] Mm-hm.
Evacuated from al-Sana’a yesterday, at 4:00 a.m.
- [Sepideh] But bombing goes on? - Yes.
- [Sepideh] Yeah. - Yes.
-You can hear that. - [Sepideh] Yes, I heard it.
They say they’re negotiating in Cairo,
but they are still bombing.
I don’t understand the logic, really.
This is desperate. It’s terrible.
I...
-Yes. - [Sepideh] Ah.
I cannot imagine that I lived through this.
The tanks were behind us.
[Sepideh] You mean they were following you with the tanks?
I don’t understand.
No.
They were stopped at the...
[audio dropout]
At the head of street.
And we continued walking.
We left everything there.
Our clothes, and our food, the car, everything.
[Sepideh] Aw.
We have nothing to eat.
[Sepideh] Oh, dear.
Ugh.
- Mm. - Yes.
[Sepideh] Do you keep your camera with yourself,
when you move?
Yes.
[Sepideh] Oh.
You’re on the beach?
[Sepideh] No, not on the beach.
I’m in a house, but near the sea.
Ah, ah, ah.
Good.
[Sepideh] We went to the sea this morning, but...
- I wish you could... - That’s great.
[Sepideh] Yeah, it is nice, it’s nice.
It’s quite a...
How can I say it?
It feels strange, because I think of you,
and I know what hardship you’re in.
And then... life goes on here.
And it’s strange.
Yes, I can... I can feel you.
I can imagine these, uh, these things.
[Sepideh] I mean, plus the thing is that I...
Yeah. I know I can’t do anything.
That’s the worst part, that...
It seems ridiculous, when I send you messages.
I know I can’t do anything for you from here.
You are here beside me and that’s enough.
[Sepideh] I am...
- I am. - Yeah.
[woman] They felt that the Israeli forces are trying to...
to, like, empty all of the Gaza strip,
and the Gaza, the Gaza City, sorry,
and the Gaza City is a danger zone.
And other Palestinians chose to stay
because let me remind you
that those Palestinians decided to stay since day one,
since the first week of war.
And they went through severe starvation,
severe artillery shelling, ground invasion,
and also Israeli airstrikes.
So, those Palestinians chose to stay in the Gaza City and...
So, tell me, how is everything?
How is everybody?
Yeah, it’s we’re tired, and okay.
[Sepideh] Yeah?
Yes, yes, uh...
[plane droning]
It’s the third day.
[audio dropout]
No, I don’t think so.
- I’m fine. - I hear the planes now again.
[phone beeps]
[Sepideh] And the water?
Because I heard the water is contaminated, not clean, no?
Yes, it’s not clean anymore.
[Sepideh] So, what do you do?
How do you find drinking water?
- You buy the water? - We bought it.
[Sepideh] Where do you get money from to buy water?
What is this?
Now, you know, the price of one cigarette...
it’s almost 50 dollars.
[Sepideh] No.
- Fifty dollars? - [in Arabic] Really.
- [Sepideh] No. - $50.
[explosion]
[Fatma exclaims]
- [Sepideh] What happened? - [Fatma] New attack.
- It’s a bombing. - [Sepideh] Oh, my...
This was really scary!
It’s so close!
- [Sepideh] That was very loud. - Yes.
It’s very close.
- You can see it? - Yes, yes, I saw it.
Watch it.
[Sepideh] Oh.
[Fatma] I don’t know where is that.
[Sepideh] Ah.
It’s a huge destruction.
It’s a huge bombing.
I will take a photo. Just a minute.
I’m shaking.
[Sepideh] Is it the building that was shaking or because...
- [Fatma] Yes. - [Sepideh] Oh.
So, now you can...
[Sepideh] I’m always thinking of you
because it’s such a random...
stupidly random bombing, attacking.
I think there will be...
But it’s okay.
[Sepideh] What do you do when it’s a case like that?
Do you prefer to stay up, upstairs or go downstairs?
How do you...
-You go down. - [Sepideh] You go down?
We cannot stay up.
Because at these moments, we feel some...
[explosions]
[phone beeps]
[phone ringing]
[Fatma] If you hear my voice,
you will hear the sound of airplanes.
They are flying in the sky and it’s...
The sky is fully of the airplanes and...
Before, just five moments, they bombed a building
or I think a house.
Um...
And every second you walk in the street,
you put your soul on your hands and walk.
[phone ringing]
[phone chimes]
Hi, Sepideh, I want to tell you about Mahasen.
She was my friend, my dear friend.
She was 31 years old.
She was killed in Tel al-Zaatar
by the Israeli forces, and this makes me very sad.
The rest of her family was injured.
So they displaced to Al Shate’
from Jabalia.
Mahasen was...
a very talented artist.
She wanted the world to know her and her art.
She got that...
But, unfortunately, after her death.
And, um, that’s it.
[phone chimes]
[phone ringing]
[woman] Troops ordered residents nearby to leave,
before destroying the building.
And armed confrontations have broken out
between Israeli forces and Palestinian groups
in the city of Al-Bireh in the occupied West Bank.
Soldiers also raided Hebron, Jenin, Nablus, and Bethlehem
as well as several villages.
The Israeli military says one soldier has been killed
and another injured...
[phone ringing]
[Sepideh] Oh, wow, it’s very dark.
- Let me see. - Yeah.
[Sepideh] I can’t see your face.
How are you doing? How are you?
- I missed you so much! - [Sepideh] Yeah, me too.
Me too, really.
I’ve been calling and it doesn’t work.
It’s too dark, there’s no light.
[Sepideh] Yes. Wait, wait.
Let me see if I can put more light on the telephone.
I don’t know what you did, but this is good.
I opened a web page.
[Sepideh] Okay.
All right, okay.
Tell me something else...
What do people think about Sinwar?
Yahya Sinwar is being elected as the head of Hamas.
What do you think?
I told my friends, we deserved a leader like this!
Because I think it’s like a joke.
Lots of people here, uh, don’t like this.
They didn’t like this election.
So, they are refusing Sinwar.
To choose a person that we didn’t see him...
from, uh...
since the 7th of October.
- So, it’s a very strange thing. - He’s not popular then?
He’s not popular?
Yes, yes.
[Sepideh] Because Sinwar, now, is really in the line
of the Iranian government, regime.
Because they don’t want peace. They want war.
They’re like Netanyahu.
They want the same thing.
In different ways, but you know?
Yes, but I think they want to show that we’re strong,
we have a leader that can defend you.
[Sepideh] When I was a child,
we were against the Shah, you know?
I mean my family was.
And then the revolution happened.
We thought it would be something good.
But it became worse,
and it’s been going on for 45 years, you know?
- Oh, my God. - [Sepideh] Yeah.
And it keeps coming back.
Every time you think there’s something better happening,
it gets worse.
And so, people in Iran, also, they say the same thing.
They keep losing hope, meaning...
thinking that fighting has no...
there’s no purpose to fight, I mean, because...
There’s like, what, third generation,
fourth generation of people who lose...
people in their family, who get killed.
That’s the problem.
There’s a quote in a film.
Its name is Shawshank Redemption.
- Have you seen it? - [Sepideh] No.
Ah, you must see it. You must...
Yes, there’s a quote in it...
It talks about hope.
The prisoner, uh, said...
A prisoner said, "Hope is a very dangerous thing."
[Sepideh] It is, but it’s necessary also to live.
Yesterday, they bombed a school.
It was as a shelter.
Used as a shelter.
- [unintelligible] you know? - [Sepideh] Yes.
The people were saying that prayer
when they bombed them.
But at these moments,
I just want to go and capture everything,
and publish everything, so...
But, of course, we are afraid
of retarget the place.
-You know? - [Sepideh] Yes, I understand.
And I ask myself this question,
but, of course, you have to document it also, you know?
It’s always in these war situations where you...
It’s hard to choose what to take and what not to take.
You know?
Yes.
- Do you think about that? - And publish everything.
I think, when I am...
at, like, these places...
I thought there is some voice in my head
that tells me, "Fatma, capture."
And even decide.
You can keep it, or delete it.
Obviously, you can’t publish everything.
But I think I publish the photos
that can touch the people.
And let the people face the truth.
The truth of the war, you know?
[Sepideh] Yes.
- I... - Are you still here?
[indistinct singing]
[droplets falling]
[man] And in the western provinces
of Ilam and Khuzistan.
Tehran says two military personnel were killed,
but the damage was limited.
Israeli officials say their attack was in response
to Iranian missile strikes, earlier this month.
The Israel Defense Forces has fulfilled its mission.
If the regime in Iran were to make the mistake
of beginning a new round of escalation,
we will be obligated to respond.
Our message is clear.
All those who threaten the state of Israel
and seek to drag the region into wider...
[phone ringing]
[woman] ...rockets towards Israel
in what it says is the first phase of retaliation
follows the assassination of Fuad Shukr,
a top Hezbollah military commander
in Beirut last month.
Earlier, Israel conducted what it described
as preemptive strikes on Hezbollah
in Southern Lebanon.
The military says that it hit thousands
of rocket launches aimed at Israel.
[intense music playing]
[Sepideh] Happy to see you!
I’m happy, too.
[Sepideh] So, how are things?
Tell me.
Um, good.
Before, just 15 minutes...
[Sepideh] Yeah.
...they bombed near us.
[Sepideh] Oh, no.
Come on!
You say it’s good, I think you have a good news!
Oh, my God!
Oh.
I was listening to your, um,
one of the first conversations we had had.
There’s something that you said.
You said, "When you walk on the streets,
you put your soul on your hand and you walk."
Yes, yes.
[Sepideh] And I was thinking of that.
When I get, when I got out from my home,
and walk into the street and...
and going and took photos,
something like this...
It’s been a while.
[Sepideh] How is the food situation?
No food, no vegetables, no fruits.
- Just cans. - [Sepideh] Mm, ah, just cans.
Okay.
’Cause, the other day, when you sent me the photo,
with chips and chocolates...
- That box. - Oh.
I have one!
- I want you to see. - [Sepideh] Yes, do.
I have this!
[laughter]
It’s been 10 months, I didn’t eat any chips!
Any real chips.
So, today, I will eat that.
I’ll eat this.
This is my first time.
[Sepideh] Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy.
This is really good.
[in Arabic] I need the key to the door.
What for?
- Which one? - We wanna play in there.
[Sepideh] Who is this?
- [child yells in Arabic] - Just one minute.
[shouting in Arabic]
Just repeat what you said.
[Sepideh] I said...
You’re tired, huh?
Oh.
[Sepideh] I said, "Do you prefer still to stay in your house
instead of leaving?"
Yes, because we have nowhere to leave to.
We have nowhere, uh, we have nowhere yet.
We have just our home and our...
here, and... our home can...
our home can contain us,
and hug us.
But other homes cannot.
I’m suffering from this desperation, so...
This is what makes me taking a few time to understand.
You know?
[Sepideh] You’re suffering from what, you say?
- From desperation. - [Sepideh] Depression?
- Desperation. - [Sepideh] Desperation.
- [in Arabic] I’m distracted. - [Sepideh] You’re distracted?
- Okay. - Yeah.
[Sepideh] This is recent? This is since the war?
- What? - [Sepideh] When did this start?
[in Arabic] Distraction, I mean...
Um, one month later.
For one month.
It’s increasing in the past month.
And when I was in my normal day,
I feel like I’m out of mind.
And I just watching everything.
I have no reaction.
I have no...
I have nothing to do.
I feel just...
I want to just watch everything and keep silent.
So, it’s a very exhausting thing.
I can’t hear you.
[Sepideh] Did you tell anyone about this?
About your depression?
I have no one to talk to about this
because there is no one specialist of this
or can fix this problem.
And I think this problem cannot end,
uh, in the war.
When the war ends, this can be end.
[Sepideh] I feel you’re not there as before.
I feel it when we talk.
I feel I’m losing you somehow.
I don’t know how to say it.
Sometimes I feel, yes, you’re less present.
What makes you happy?
Try to think of that, what makes you happy?
What would make you happy?
- What makes me happy? - [Sepideh] Yes.
I want to get out from this city!
[Sepideh] Ah, okay.
I want to get out from all of this.
I feel so tired
because of this city and this destruction
around me, all the time.
I want just to be in a normal place.
In nature, in a calm place...
And breathe some clear air.
And feel peace.
And feel I am a normal person.
I think I’m in a prison.
In a real prison.
I cannot do anything.
Why do you say you don’t feel like you’re a normal person?
Because of everything.
[Sepideh] You are a normal person.
The situation is not normal.
I don’t eat normal food, I don’t do normal things,
I don’t, uh, walk on normal streets,
I don’t... make anything like normal people.
[Sepideh] During the COVID, corona,
was the feeling of being trapped
a bit similar to now or no?
No, of course no!
In COVID, it was...
I remember I was a happy person.
I was in my room, and I have internet,
I have my laptop.
I remember that I started to learn Morse code.
- You know? - [Sepideh] Oh...
I had started learning Morse in prison,
when I was in jail.
Yes.
[Sepideh] We had to communicate with the, you know?
With the next door cell.
And so we used to do that, and...
Do you still stay in your room?
- No, no... - [Sepideh] Why?
Because we are not...
We are not here.
We are in our relatives’.
This is my key of my room.
[Sepideh] Nice! You close it?
You close the door, you lock the door?
Yes.
[Sepideh] Well, that’s your private space.
- I mean, it’s important. - Yeah, of course!
I don’t like someone enter my room, and...
- And do anything. - Of course, I understand.
You cannot enter it without me.
You know the book?
There’s a book called A Room of One’s Own.
It’s a very famous book by Virginia Woolf.
Ah, I heard about Virginia Woolf.
[Sepideh] Yes.
She wrote a book, and this was a very important book
about the concept of having a private space of your own
and your own room and, you know...
- The whole... - I’ll try to read it.
We used to say to ourselves,
"Fatra o beta’addi."
It means "this time will pass."
So, I think so, and I think this also will pass.
[Sepideh] Make a wish and then we say goodbye for today.
A wish?
I want to go to a...
I wish to go to the city of...
the city of amusement...
The amusement park.
[Sepideh] Oh.
You want to? Which one?
The one in Paris, you mean, near Paris, or where?
- Any one. - [Sepideh] Any one.
- Anywhere. - [Sepideh] Okay, okay.
Once the war is over, we have to do that together.
I wish, I wish it would come.
[Sepideh] I wish you can do it soon.
[wheels creaking]
[horn beeps]
[indistinct speaking]
[Fatma] It’s okay, Sepideh, it’s okay.
You are here and that’s enough.
It’s okay.
Enough that you are, uh, hear me
and share my feelings and your feelings.
I’m so glad to be here.
I’m so glad that you are beside me.
I hope all of this end and...
to see you in another place in this world.
Or in Gaza.
I hope you’ll come Gaza.
And I will take you to my home,
and I will... go out to the streets,
and walk in all of the streets of Gaza.
I’m not sad, but all things that going,
it make you sad.
Not make you sad,
but it make you boring of waiting.
We are waiting very much
and hoping, and, unfortunately, killing.
I’m on the roof of my house on the sixth floor.
The airplane is above my head,
and I have headache because of the sound.
We hear this sound all the time.
Literally, all of the time, we hear this sound.
That’s very hard!
But although I have very little hope
to live the life I want,
and I have the idea that I must keep going
and I must document everything
to be in this history,
to be me,
and to tell my... my children
about what I have lived, and what I have survived.
[explosions]
[gunfire]
[phone ringing]
- I’m fine, how are you? - I can’t believe this. Wow!
Let me see you.
I know you... it’s one year.
[Sepideh] I wanted to tell you...
Yes, yes, yes.
So, you’re sitting, right?
Yes.
[Sepideh] No, the film has been selected for a big festival.
Yes, in Cannes.
I don’t know if you know Cannes.
Do you know Cannes Film Festival?
- What? - [Sepideh] Cannes.
Cannes is a very big festival.
Ah, yes, yes. I know!
I know it.
[Sepideh] It has been selected for Cannes.
- Ooh! - [Sepideh] Yes.
- That’s so great! - [Sepideh] Yes.
- You want to come? - Of course!
[Sepideh] So, because I...
And if I can come, me and Moataz,
this will be perfect.
- It’s so amazing! - [Sepideh] Yes, it is. It is.
Well, I feel concerned, now that the film will be public.
I mean, I was thinking whether you would stay still there,
or will you move from your place to somewhere else?
I mean, I don’t know, how you feel about that?
Um, I think I cannot get out from Gaza,
because, um,
even if everything or everywhere is destroyed,
but I cannot get out from here,
because here is my family, my memories,
my things, my friends, my everything.
We have just Gaza.
We have any land, we haven’t any land except Gaza.
So, this is our land,
this is where we live and where we’re born.
We can rebuild Gaza,
and rebuild our homes and our places.
I don’t know when,
but I believe that everything will end.
[Sepideh] It’s nice talking to you again.
- Me too. - [Sepideh] Yeah.
So, I miss you so much!
[Sepideh] You come for the festival.
I hope so.
- I really hope. - [Sepideh] Yes, yes.
I will, I just...
So, you sent me the...
Your passport now? You just sent it to me?
Yes, I sent.
[Sepideh] We’ll talk soon?
[in Arabic] See you...
Bye.
[wind blowing softly]
[plane engines humming]
[indistinct chatter]
[indistinct rustling]
[indistinct clattering]
[plane engine humming]
[plane engines humming]
[popping sounds]