“The story doesn’t end here.
The story is yet to start.
May we live to narrate it.
Through all this
The question remains
How do you get over a Genocide?
— Plestia Alaqad
The Eyes of Gaza (2025) is a testament to truth in a world of falsehoods, a written record of the genocide against innocent civilians, the diary of a young woman and journalist laid bare. Alaqad’s work spans from 7 October 2023 to 20 November 2023: 45 days of horror, bombardment, invasion, and massacre on a scale never before seen in human history. In an intimate first-hand account, we are invited to bear witness to cruel injustice, to Alaqad’s grief and perseverance, and a collective resistance. The Eyes of Gaza is a visceral account that chronicles the incomprehensible violence and senseless violence of genocide, the ongoing compassion of a community in turmoil, and the experience of exile from the only home you have ever known. There is no book published this year that is more urgent and important to read.
In 2023, Plestia Alaqad laid bare the realities of genocide in Gaza for millions across the globe through the lens of her phone. Now, we bear witness to the most intimate and personal perspective of the genocide, written with a pen across an ordinary diary. Alaqad is candid and upfront about the difficulties of working as a journalist during the Genocide, the realities of being launched into an impossibly demanding job under the most devastating conditions: the intentional targeting of journalists by the Zionist entity and the risk to her loved ones, the dangers of reporting from the midst of absolute destruction, the lack of resources and exceptionally limited access to information. The Eyes of Gaza is the latest instalment of Alaqad’s important work and witness, a resounding attestation to truth that bears a heavy weight against a world that “[isn’t] interested in Palestinian life, only in Palestinian death.”
Alaqad’s written word is at once an intimate love letter to her home and a testimony of its violent destruction, a shattering contrast: “It’s a different type of pain, to see your homeland, once covered with olive and lemon trees, lush, fruitful pastures and the remnants of ancient, beautiful humanity, reduced to rubble, populated by camps and tents. I can’t always gather the strength to film what I see, because my eyes don’t want to believe that what they see is true. So instead, I just walk through the camp, between the tents, watching people’s eyes and trying to memorise their faces, so that somebody will have known their end.” With writing so intimate and personal, Alaqad lays bare the collective soul of Gaza under siege, and conveys the sheer brutality of a Genocide that still fails to destroy the pervasive and strong hope of the Palestinian people.
The Eyes of Gaza finishes on Sunday, 19 January: Ceasefire. Alaqad speaks to the traumatic aftermath: “For Palestinians, the war is never over — ceasefire is merely the space between tragedies. And in that space, we carry with us the unbearable weight of memories that cannot be undone.” We too witness the euphoria and overwhelming mix of emotions, the first phone call to friends back home. We are reminded that many are not afforded the same privileges.
The ceasefire would last 42 days until its unilateral end by the resumption of Israeli aggression. Palestinians in Gaza are still under siege. At the time of writing, it has been 560 days of Genocide since October 7. Alaqad’s book is devastating, but reading it is a necessary act. Read this book because turning away is cruel and violent. Read this book to resist the powers that normalise Genocide. Read this book to resist the powers that attempt to dehumanise and discredit innocent civilians and communities. Read this book because it is a testament to truth. Read this book because you will lose your humanity without it. In Plestia’s words to the reader: “Use your story to make the world better, kinder and more just.”
Plestia Alaqad has become the eyes of Gaza, but let us keep all our eyes on Palestine.
