Out of Gaza

This project documents the lives of Palestinians who were wounded in the recent war in Gaza and are now receiving treatment in Qatar.

Among them is Fatima Abu Shaar, whose 14-year-old son had just cooked his first meal when explosions shook their home. In an instant, her arm was severed at the sink, and her daughter Tala, only eight, lost a foot. “The thing that scares me most now is my daughter’s future,” she says. Their story is one of many that reveal how war transforms ordinary lives into constant struggles for survival.

The patients I encountered have suffered devastating injuries: amputations, blindness, disfiguration, and brain damage. Many lost entire families, others were forced to leave loved ones behind while seeking urgent medical help abroad. Their lives have been turned upside down in ways that words can barely capture. Photographing and listening to them has been emotionally overwhelming, at times leaving me sleepless for days. I still wonder how they manage to go on carrying memories so heavy with pain, and whether anything can ease such trauma.

Among the people I met were Mahmoud Ajjour and Ruba Abu Jibba, both affected by displacement and conflict. Ruba lost an eye while fleeing with her family during military operations. These are the faces of resilience in the shadow of catastrophe, people whose survival itself is a form of testimony. They are alive, even if survival does not always feel like living.