CGTN Europe marks the one-year anniversary of the beginning of Israel’s campaign against Hamas with a powerful half-hour documentary - Surviving: Orphans of Gaza.
It documents the stories of five Palestinian orphans – Yousef, Abdullah, Israa, Mirvat and Mohammed - revealing how their childhoods have been transformed from the ordinary to a landscape of destruction in a single moment, and documents their daily struggles with injury, trauma and displacement. #OrphansofGaza #Gaza
It documents the stories of five Palestinian orphans – Yousef, Abdullah, Israa, Mirvat and Mohammed - revealing how their childhoods have been transformed from the ordinary to a landscape of destruction in a single moment, and documents their daily struggles with injury, trauma and displacement. #OrphansofGaza #Gaza
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NewsTranscript
00:00My name is Youssef, I am two years old, and this is my sister, Mirfat, Omar, and Ahmed.
00:24My name is Ahmed.
00:26Mirfat is my name but my family is called Mirfat.
00:31Mirfat is my name but my family is called Misha Noob.
00:37My name is Misha Noob but my family is called Misha Noob.
00:54It was a nice and clean house, but when the war came, they bombed the house and we came
01:07to the tents.
01:08And the tents are not like the ones in Balad, all the tents, all the tents are not good,
01:16they bring, they bring the ants, they bring the mosquitos.
01:22They make us suffer in the war.
01:25And the salt water is not very good.
01:28Sometimes the tents get very hot and cold.
01:32That's why the youth hate us.
01:37We want to go and see our brothers and see the whole world.
01:43I miss you.
01:50I miss you.
01:56I miss you.
02:02I miss you.
02:08I miss you.
02:14I miss you.
02:20I miss you.
02:26I miss you.
02:40I miss you.
02:50I miss you.
02:58I miss you.
03:06I miss you.
03:14I miss you.
03:44I miss you.
03:54I miss you.
04:04I miss you.
04:12I miss you.
04:42I miss you.
04:52I miss you.
05:02I miss you.
05:10I miss you.
05:20This is the first year that I literally lost everything.
05:24Everything, my mother, my father, my brother, my family, my house, my room, my certificates, my awareness.
05:30Nothing came out, nothing came out.
05:32A new state, I mean, I lived a life that I never imagined I could live.
05:39We evacuated a lot.
05:40And how many houses did we live in?
05:42I evacuated, until now, ten places.
05:45Before we settled in our house, I mean, thank God, in the house we are living in, thank God.
05:49Thank God.
05:55Take an apple.
05:56Take it.
05:58Come on.
06:03Do you remember?
06:04I remember the day of the bombing.
06:06What were you saying?
06:07Who were you looking for?
06:09It was a difficult situation, how could I say it?
06:14So, in the end, I lost hope.
06:16I told Osama, look for someone to talk to the girls, and I will go down.
06:22It was the beginning of the trauma, that I see the damage, because I didn't remember anything from what I lived.
06:28We were sitting at home, when we heard the sound that they wanted to leave the Islamic State Bank.
06:34The bank was bombed, and after five minutes, we were sitting in the same place.
06:38The bomb went off, and my family was martyred, and they were with me.
06:47The room we were in, I came to this tree.
06:50I mean, I'm talking about the tree of miracles.
06:53I was raised, and I live with it.
06:55In the end, it saved us.
06:56After 45 minutes, the neighbors came to us, and they started to take out, I mean, the civil defense came, and they started to take out one by one.
07:09We went out, and I was always, according to my brother's story, I was always screaming that my hand, my hand was, I mean, my entire hand was broken.
07:18After a month, we were able to move.
07:22But when I got home, I found out that my father was martyred, my mother, my father, my brother, my entire family, my aunt, may God have mercy on them all.
07:32So, I mean, the first thing, or the most thing I was asking was, how was my father and mother's face?
07:37And I promised myself that I wouldn't see the pictures until the war was over.
07:50First of all, we were in school.
07:52On Friday, we went to have lunch at our house.
07:57And the first time we went, my brother Ahmad went to buy food for his father.
08:07And then, when it was time to go to my aunt's farm next to us, she stayed with us.
08:16Hamza.
08:18I'm the second cook in the kitchen.
08:20And we live in my aunt's room.
08:25And I started to work in the kitchen.
08:30The first thing I did was this.
08:33And then I started to work here.
08:36And I started to work in the fields.
08:39In the fields, here in the fields, in the fields.
08:43In the fields, here.
08:45And my father was martyred.
08:47My father was martyred.
08:49My father was martyred.
08:51My mother was bleeding from her head.
08:58She was bleeding from her head.
09:00And my father was martyred.
09:10The field was under the ground.
09:12They took it out like this, cut it.
09:14And my brother saw her doing this.
09:15He didn't see her in the first place.
09:17Meaning, my brother blamed her, and she blamed him wrongly.
09:20The girl blamed her.
09:22They took her straight to the hospital.
09:24Of course, they sewed her face.
09:26She still suffers from the bruises.
09:28The left leg was broken.
09:33The second leg was broken from the first thigh to the last.
09:38The suffering when you go to the bathroom, when you take a shower.
09:40When you wake up from sleep, you scream and scream.
09:44And you say, I dreamed of my father, my mother, all of them, Tina.
09:47These nightmares were always repeated.
09:50And he was subjected to a lot of things.
09:53He was sick with it.
09:55He stopped speaking for a long time.
09:58He almost stopped talking.
10:00And when he started talking, when he started talking,
10:03we started to play with the children.
10:05We started to play with them and take them from place to place.
10:07We tried to break the barrier of fear.
10:10Yusuf, when he hears a bomb, he sticks to the wood.
10:21Since the establishment of this camp,
10:24we have been in touch with Abdullah.
10:26There is a child with the following conditions.
10:29His father lost his father, his brother lost his brother.
10:32He is the only child, the only survivor,
10:34from his family who was bombed.
10:36All the members of his family were bombed.
10:37We received Abdullah inside this camp
10:40with his uncle's house in this camp.
10:49Did you hear the explosion?
10:52I didn't feel anything.
10:55When did you wake up?
10:58In my uncle's house.
11:00I started screaming, where is mom, where is dad?
11:03They told me, slowly, slowly, slowly.
11:05What did they tell you?
11:07They told me, slowly, slowly,
11:10they will come soon,
11:12they will buy things for you.
11:17My father was also alive,
11:19but he was in the concentration camp.
11:21We thank God,
11:23we say, thank God,
11:25he is still alive.
11:27Thank God for everything.
11:29Is it true or not?
11:31It is true.
11:33Thank God for everything.
11:35May God bless you,
11:37Abdullah.
11:55We were safe in our house.
11:58When they bombed the house,
12:00I heard a loud noise.
12:02When I fell,
12:04they told me I was flying,
12:05and I fell on the front of the house.
12:07This is the last floor.
12:10The last floor.
12:12The last floor was burned.
12:15The fridge and the pot,
12:17my brother's son found the room with the fridge.
12:20And the oven,
12:22where they gathered to make cake,
12:24and all the children gathered around them.
12:26The first and the second floor,
12:28our second floor,
12:30and the first floor,
12:32my uncle's floor,
12:33there were people coming from outside,
12:36my uncle and his children,
12:38and their women.
12:40My father was a pilot,
12:42he flew a long distance,
12:44my mother built her house,
12:46my brother was hanged,
12:48and he was bleeding.
12:50I was shot in the leg.
12:54This is the scar,
12:56it was deeper than this,
12:58it was like this,
13:00it was all open.
13:01I found a scar from it,
13:03it was as big as a finger.
13:05The scar was concentrated in here,
13:07so with the movement,
13:09I found it.
13:13In this hole,
13:15in this hole,
13:17there is a bone here,
13:19we couldn't get it out,
13:21the ceiling was on it.
13:23This is a nail,
13:25how did it come out?
13:27We couldn't do anything.
13:29We saw the bodies,
13:31we couldn't do anything.
13:33Who survived?
13:35In my family,
13:37my brother and I.
13:39The rest were martyred,
13:41in 1996.
13:53This is the wall of the house,
13:55before it collapsed,
13:57there were five floors.
13:59These are the pictures of the whole family,
14:01this is my father,
14:03this is my mother,
14:05this is my brother Majid and his son,
14:07and his wife,
14:09and this is my sister,
14:11and my brother's wife,
14:13and their children,
14:15who came after seven years,
14:17and my brother.
14:19They all became a memory.
14:21This is Ameer,
14:23he is going to the sea.
14:25Ameer is half a second,
14:26he covers the sand and plays.
14:28The most beautiful moments
14:30were the gatherings with the family,
14:32the Eid Milad,
14:34the football match,
14:36we all gathered
14:38and went to the sea.
14:40We stayed up until midnight,
14:42and then we went home.
14:44Who is this?
14:46This is my mother.
14:48What do you say when you see her?
14:50I love her.
14:52Who are these?
14:54This is Ahmed.
14:56This is my mother.
14:58This is Omar.
15:00No, this is not Omar.
15:02This is Yusuf.
15:04Who is this?
15:06What is his name?
15:08What is his father's name?
15:10The one in heaven.
15:12What is his name?
15:14Mohammad.
15:26How are you?
15:28Today is my birthday.
15:30Thank God,
15:32most of my memories are beautiful.
15:34Thank God, during the war,
15:36the first real experience
15:38was that people left my family.
15:40I felt like I was living
15:42in an empty city
15:44and moved to another place.
15:46May God have mercy on my family.
15:48May God bless them
15:50because they are good people.
15:52What memories do I have?
15:54I have beautiful memories
15:56of when I graduated
15:58from the Faculty of Medicine
16:00at the Islamic University in 2022.
16:02All my family came to the university
16:04and we had a great time.
16:06How did we feel
16:08when we were on the bus
16:10as if we were leaving Farah?
16:26May God have mercy on my father.
16:28I used to ask my uncle
16:30to bring us kebabs
16:32and we would go to the sea.
16:34After we ate,
16:36we would go and play.
16:38We used to play on the swings.
16:40Sometimes, when I go to work,
16:42I let him carry my bag
16:44as if he was not with me.
16:47I play with my sister,
16:49Fatouma.
16:51May God have mercy on her.
16:53But she is naughty.
16:54When we have lunch,
16:56she attacks the bread.
16:59She attacks the bread
17:01because she wants to eat it.
17:18Before the war,
17:20we used to play.
17:21Before the war,
17:23we used to play.
17:25We used to play a lot.
17:27We used to play every day.
17:29We used to go
17:31to my uncle's house
17:33and my uncle's house.
17:45We used to go to the sea
17:47and my father would play with us.
17:49He would carry my brother
17:51and throw him in the sea.
17:53When we finished swimming,
17:55we would go to the swings.
17:57We used to play
17:59on the swings.
18:01My brother, Ahmed,
18:03used to play with him every day.
18:05When he was young,
18:07he used to walk.
18:09I used to carry my brother
18:11on my sister's back.
18:13Those were good days.
18:22leh
18:35My uncle, his daughter, and I
18:39live here.
18:41I wake up in the morning
18:43in the tent,
18:45and go outside to sit
18:47under ants' effects.
18:49I had an over-the-shoulder injury and now I have this leg.
18:54Everything is getting harder.
18:57From the bathroom, from the salt water, from the skin.
19:01Before I came, I liked to draw.
19:21I started drawing.
19:25I want to go to school.
19:29I want to learn Arabic and religion.
19:34I want to read the Quran and learn Arabic.
19:55I wake up early.
19:58I wake up, they make breakfast and we eat.
20:02Torta and zaatar.
20:04When we are hungry, we eat.
20:07We miss sweets.
20:09We miss sweets.
20:11Then we play hide and seek.
20:15And the police.
20:17And the thieves.
20:20Then we play.
20:24At night, there's an explosion.
20:30We can hear the explosions.
20:36What do you do at night?
20:39What do you do at night?
20:41I kill.
20:44I kill.
20:46I kill people.
20:48What do you do at night?
20:52I take a ball.
20:54What is it?
20:55A ball.
20:57So you can play with me, right?
21:06We always play with them.
21:08I share them with my children and my siblings.
21:10We always play with them.
21:12They always sit with us.
21:14We share the evenings.
21:17Most of the time, we let them play with the children around us.
21:20This is the fourth or fifth child.
21:23Is this the fifth child?
21:25Or is it Omar?
21:27The children disappeared.
21:29They disappeared.
21:30They are sick.
21:31We are in a state of Northern Disease.
21:33The North is sick.
21:35I describe the North as sick.
21:48It's very different.
21:49This is the first time I live with people.
21:51It's a lot of things.
21:52This is the first time I cook in my life during the war.
21:55I wake up and go to bed tired.
21:57I'm 100% tired every day.
21:59I have to work, I have to take care of the house.
22:01But thank God, I'm not tired.
22:03I try to do my best to build our house.
22:05My mother and father worked hard to build it.
22:08Eat the pizza.
22:09Yusra, do you want the olives or the tomatoes?
22:12I'll eat with you.
22:14The fear and the search for safety is every second.
22:17Yesterday, they told us to evacuate our area.
22:20Where should we go?
22:22I couldn't pack my things.
22:25We left without anything.
22:34When I came back to the hospital,
22:36I was still in my 30s.
22:38What kept me going was God's mercy.
22:40My father told me to teach people.
22:43The hospital is in Ahwaj.
22:45We're in Ahwaj.
22:46We have a lot of work to do.
22:48There's a shortage of medical staff.
22:50I'm a volunteer.
22:51I don't think it's worth it.
22:53I don't know how many people come to me
22:55and tell me,
22:56this is the son of a martyr.
22:58Or this is the only survivor.
23:00I take him and photograph him.
23:02I take him to the hospital.
23:04I do everything for him.
23:05Because, God bless him,
23:06he lives the feeling of loss.
23:07He feels the people around him.
23:10Every time I go to the hospital,
23:12I remember my family,
23:14or our grandchildren who were martyred.
23:16I always thank God
23:18that I have something left
23:20from my brother who was martyred.
23:23God bless him and his family.
23:40I live here with my brother and his daughter.
23:43We live in this hospital alone.
23:45We help each other.
23:47Some cook, some pick firewood.
23:50Some fill water.
23:52Some work, some bring food.
23:54Like that.
23:55I'm a volunteer.
23:57I'm a volunteer.
23:59I'm a volunteer.
24:01I'm a volunteer.
24:03I'm a volunteer.
24:05I'm a volunteer.
24:07I'm a volunteer.
24:09Like that.
24:11The hardest thing I face
24:13is losing them.
24:15Thinking about them every day.
24:17I can't get out of my head.
24:19My brother,
24:21after seven years,
24:23he had two children.
24:25A boy and a girl.
24:27It was a great happiness for him.
24:29After they had broken into the house
24:31and knew he was martyred,
24:33he was shocked.
24:35He doesn't talk to people, he thinks a lot, he sits, he complains.
24:43I tried to get him out of this situation, but I couldn't.
24:47I feel like I'm responsible for his health.
24:51He's been in the hospital for three days.
25:04I work for Hussam El Hatto Games.
25:07I'm a worker.
25:10I work from 8.30am to a bit before sunset.
25:16I work 30 hours a day.
25:19Most of the time I go out to buy canned food,
25:24like thyme, bread.
25:29I leave work and go to the store.
25:32I get a bag and come here.
25:34While I work, I buy tuna cans, meat, vegetables, things like that.
25:43The biggest fear I have is that I'll cut my arm and leg.
25:50If I cut my arm or leg, who will take care of me?
25:55I don't have anyone.
26:09I start by telling people how I feel.
26:13Then I go to school.
26:16It's fun.
26:20It's also fun to go to school.
26:23If I don't finish school, I have to go to school.
26:32There's no water.
26:36Everything is available at the camp.
26:39I can't do anything.
26:42I can't fly.
26:44I can't do anything.
26:46I can't do anything.
26:56If I can, I'll go back to my mom and dad.
27:02What do you want to be when you grow up?
27:05I want to be a doctor.
27:14When the war is over, I want to go to Egypt.
27:20I want to play on the ground.
27:22I want to do something.
27:26I want to see my brothers and play with them.
27:36I hope the war is over.
27:42I want to be an adult.
27:51I can't live outside of Gaza.
27:53This is a spiritual place.
27:55Sometimes I say, I hope people see what we've seen.
27:58Sometimes I say, no, it's a shame.
28:00Sometimes I say, they didn't shut up about what happened to us.
28:02I hope they live and see how we feel.
28:04It's a contradiction between humanity and non-humanity.
28:08Despite everything that happened,
28:10we try to preserve the feeling of humanity inside us.
28:13I want to leave this camp.
28:16Three of my cousins are still missing.
28:22We haven't found any of their bones.
28:26My biggest dream is to bury Al-Faddar.
28:30If they are buried in Al-Faddar,
28:32I will feel better.
28:34I will know where they are buried.
28:37I look at the world with despair.
28:40No one can stop what is happening.
28:43The Arab rulers, the Arabs themselves, the foreigners.
28:47No one can stop it.
28:49We've been at war for 11 months.
28:52Every day children, women, and disabled people die.
28:57No one can move.
28:59Our spirits have become weak.
29:04Our spirits have become weak.