Voice notes from Gaza
Palestinians are suffering under Israel's devastating siege and military offensive. Hear what they have to say
This story includes auto-playing voice notes
I ’ m l i t e r a l l y r e c o r d i n g t h i s u n d e r t h e s o u n d o f d r o n e s a n d F - 1 6 s b o m b i n g a r o u n d m e , a n d I d o n o t k n o w i f a n y o f t h e s e b o m b s w i l l h i t m e b e f o r e I e v e n s e n d t h i s m e s s a g e .
I ’ v e s e e n a m o u n t s o f d e s t r u c t i o n t h a t I c a n n o t b e g i n t o e x p l a i n t o y o u . . . . I ’ v e s e e n t h e s o n s a n d d a u g h t e r s o f m y c o u s i n s w i t h t h e i r h e a d s c o m p l e t e l y s m a s h e d .
I t r u l y w i s h e d f o r d e a t h — t r u l y , t r u l y I w i s h e d f o r d e a t h m i l l i o n s o f t i m e s . T h o s e w h o d i e d , d i e d o n e t i m e . I ’ m d y i n g e v e r y d a y a m i l l i o n t i m e s , a n d m y m o t h e r i s , t o o .
Far from the wrangling of diplomats and just below the incessant buzzing of Israeli drones, millions of Palestinians languish in destroyed homes and makeshift tents across Gaza.
They are cold, hungry, terrified and growing increasingly frustrated with the international community’s inability to broker a permanent ceasefire in the brutal, asymmetric fight between Israel and Hamas.
In the six months since Hamas’ deadly October 7 attack, Israel has launched a bombing campaign and ground offensive in Gaza that has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. It also has imposed a siege and razed entire communities, rendering nearly 90% of the population displaced and 100% food insecure.
Israel says its military tactics are necessary to defeat Hamas. But in a March report for the United Nations’ Human Rights Council, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, said there are “reasonable grounds” to believe Israel is committing the crime of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel said it “utterly rejects” the report, which it said “brings shame” on the council.
With many local journalists killed, and Gaza all but closed to foreign press, one of the few ways to hear directly from Palestinians is through voice notes, sent whenever internet connection is briefly available.
The voice notes for this project, collected between December and February, provide a small window into the physical and psychological toll the war has taken on the people of Gaza.
Nour Shaer
Medical student, age 23
Shaer is a fourth-year medical student. Since October 7, she has volunteered in hospitals and helped deliver food packages to families in need. Shaer is from Rafah, but was displaced from her home and now lives with nearby relatives.
Packages of food that Shaer helped distribute to hungry families.
Shaer waited for five hours in a bakery line to buy bread for her family.
She stands beside the rubble of her neighbor’s home.
Raghad Abu Hejier
Second grader, age 7
Raghad is an elementary school student from Jabalya refugee camp. Her home was destroyed in a series of Israeli airstrikes that also killed her friends. She’s now sheltering with family in Rafah.
Raghad does her best to stay warm at the elementary school in Rafah where her family is sheltering from Israeli bombardment.
Ali Jebril
Wheelchair basketballplayer, age 27
Jebril is a special-needs athlete who plays for a wheelchair basketball league in Gaza. He’s from Zeitoun, but was displaced after his family home was destroyed in an Israeli airstrike. He’s sheltering in a tent in Rafah.
Jebril cooks a meal over a fire in the camp where he lives with his family in Rafah.
Before he was displaced from his home in Zeitoun, Jebril enjoyed going to the beach. Wheelchair ramps made it easier for him to get around.
He now struggles with his wheelchair in the camp, where there is no infrastructure to assist people with mobility issues.
Jebril is an accomplished wheelchair basketball player. Shortly after the Israeli airstrikes began, his team’s court was destroyed. He’s not sure if he’ll ever play on a team again.
Afaf AlNajjar
University student, age 21
AlNajjar is a student at the Islamic University of Gaza, which was destroyed in Israeli airstrikes. She’s from Gaza City but was displaced to Rafah.
AlNajjar making bread for her family. Due to Israel’s siege, food staples like flour have become a luxury.
Her beloved cat, Sarah, went into shock shortly after the Israeli airstrikes began. She was vomiting, shaking and eventually died.
Ra’eesa Dery
Cancer patient, age 47
Dery was undergoing medical treatment for breast cancer when the Israeli airstrikes began. She’s from Sabra, but has since been displaced to Khan Younis and then Rafah. As far as Dery knows, her house has not been destroyed. However, more than 18 members of her family were killed in various Israeli attacks.
Dery is unable to receive treatment for her breast cancer. She says the violence has taken a massive toll on her physical and mental health.
Mahmoud Jarousha
University student, age 18
Jarousha is a first-year student at University College of Applied Sciences, where he studies data science and artificial intelligence. He’s from the Rimal neighborhood of Gaza City, but is now sheltering in Deir al-Balah.
Jarousha graduated from an English language program in 2022.
His family home was severely damaged from an Israeli airstrike.
Fatima OsamaMohammed Abu-Saffia
Pregnant mother, age 29
Abu-Saffia was nine months pregnant with her second child when she spoke with CNN. She’s from Beit Lahia, but her home was bombed. She has since given birth and is now sheltering in an elementary school in Rafah.
With no access to prenatal care, Abu-Saffia worries for her health and that of her child.
Abu-Saffia shows a photo of her home in Beit Lahia, which was completely destroyed in an Israeli airstrike. She has since been displaced four times.
Israa Ahmed
Doctor, age 27
Ahmed is a doctor who works in a United Nations shelter in Khan Younis, where an Israeli airstrike destroyed her home and killed her mother, brother and nephew. Ahmed was trapped under the rubble and had to be dug out. She now lives in a nearby shelter.
The moment Ahmed was rescued from beneath the rubble of her family home in Khan Younis after it was struck by the Israeli military on October 10, 2023.
Ahmed’s family home once stood three stories. Today, it lies in ruins.
MESSAGES TO THE WORLD
Each person who sent CNN a voice note included a message addressed to the international community.
Fatima Osama Mohammed Abu-Saffia
Pregnant mother
The message I’m sending to the world is that anyone who can intervene, please save us from the situation we’re in. It’s so bad that it’s difficult to even describe. What you’re seeing in photos or on TV, it’s not like what we’re really experiencing at all. It doesn’t even come close. We want an end to this, in any way possible. For the sake of humanity, end the war.
Raghad Abu Hejier
Second grader
My message to the world is that I hope the war ends and I can go back to my house to play and live the rest of my life like other kids.
Ali Jebril
Wheelchair basketball player
I’m not okay and neither is my family, which has four people with disabilities. And neither are my married siblings nor the rest of our family of 45 people, including children, women, men – they are not okay. I want protection. I want to leave Gaza so I can live in peace and safety, and so I can have a future.
Ghada Al Kurd
Freelance journalist
The message I want to send all over the world is that you have to see the people of Gaza, the civilian people. You have to see their suffering. You have to believe in their right to live and right to have a good life without any problems. They want peace, they don’t want any other war anymore. It’s enough for them, every two years, every three years, a war. They lost hope. They became displaced. They are desperate, frustrated, they want to live a good life.
Afaf AlNajjar
University student
We are as much human as anyone else in the world. And we have dreams, and we have ambitions, and we have things that we want to accomplish. And we have stories that we want to tell just like everybody else. And we feel pain. We feel pain just like everybody else.
Farida Adel Algoul
English teacher
I lost my loved ones. I lost a lot of my family. I lost myself during this war. It’s not a war. It’s a genocide. … My question to this world: How many Palestinians should lose their life to stop this genocidal war against us? How many?
Israa Ahmed
Doctor
I want us to live in safety, peace and good health. We want to live with dignity and freedom in our homeland. We want our whole country, from the north to the south, without occupation. ... There is nothing we can say to the world when they have already seen everything. They saw the genocide with their own eyes, but they still support the Israeli occupation. America is still supporting Israel and still providing them with aid to bomb us.
Nour Shaer
Medical student
You need to pressure your governments to stop this. A ceasefire. We need a ceasefire. You need to stand with us. You need to stand with everyone in Gaza because we need your support.
Ra’eesa Dery
Cancer patient
I want my voice to reach the whole world: Stop the war on the Palestinian people. Enough death. Enough displacement. Enough bloodshed. Enough horror. Enough.
Correction: This article has been updated to remove an incorrect characterization of the International Court of Justice's provisional ruling in South Africa's genocide case against Israel.
