When Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza began after October 7, 2023, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians were forced to leave their homes, many under forced displacement orders to move south.
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many → begin → orders
By September 27, 2026, at least 74,018 Palestinians had been killed and 175,079 injured in Gaza since the start of the war, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health.
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175,079 → kill → Health
Some fled with nothing, leaving behind homes, belongings and memories.
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Some → flee → homes
Others managed to grab just what they could not bear to leave behind: A book, a musical instrument, a toy, a pet or a keepsake.
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they → manage → what
We asked people in Gaza what they took with them when they fled their homes after October 7 - and what stays with them after repeated displacements during the war.
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what → ask → war
When Omar Abdel Hakim Hamad, 30, received a displacement order in Beit Hanoon, north of Gaza, at about midnight, he decided to stay a little longer despite the heavy bombardment.
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he → receive → bombardment
He wanted to collect what he could from his home, fearing he might never return.
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he → want → home
The first thing he thought of saving was his personal library of about 500 books.
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he → think → books
He managed to take about 200, prioritising old and rare books that he felt could not be replaced.
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he → manage → books
Since leaving Beit Hanoon on October 30, 2023, Omar has been displaced 13 times, moving first to Gaza City and later south to the Maghazi refugee camp, where he remains displaced.
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he → leave → camp
“They are part of who I am,” he says, describing how his love of reading began at 15.
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love → say → 15
Among the books he carried with him is a 1933 edition of Kalila wa Dimna.
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edition → carry → Dimna
During the famine-like conditions that plagued Gaza for large parts of the war, he even considered exchanging his entire library for one or two kilogrammes of flour, but says he is grateful that he managed to keep most of it.
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he → plague → it
Today, his Phoenix Library (at the centre of Gaza city) contains about 7,000 books, including about 3,000 rescued from libraries destroyed during the war and another 4,000 that were bought.
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that → contain → war
When Shahd Abu Khosa, 30, left her home in Gaza’s al-Jalaa neighbourhood on October 16, 2023, she took her two dogs, Lily and Bobby, with her.
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she → leave → her
Her displacement took her from al-Shifa Hospital to Tal al-Hawa south of Gaza City, then to a house and finally to a school shelter.
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displacement → take → shelter
The journey was difficult for both dogs, especially Lily, who was frightened by the sound of bombardment and would hide whenever shelling began.
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shelling → frighten → bombardment
Bobby died of starvation after food became unavailable.
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food → die → starvation
“I never thought of leaving Lily behind,” Shahd says, describing her as part of the family.
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Shahd → think → family
During the famine, Lily survived by eating what the family ate, including lentils and bread, while Shahd continued to share what little food they had with her.
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they → survive → her
Shahd says she had once been afraid of dogs, but that changed after her sister brought Lily and Bobby from Egypt.
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sister → say → Egypt
Lily became especially close to her, spending much of her time with Shahd and sharing her food.
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Lily → become → food
She describes Lily as loyal and gentle, saying the dog would sense when Shahd was in danger and try to protect her.
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Shahd → describe → her
Shahd hopes all pets in Gaza can find a safe place where they have food, water and somewhere to sleep, “away from fear and harm, and without being thrown out”.
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they → hop → fear
As Yaseen al-Qubt, 16, left his home in Beit Lahiya on October 12, 2023, he took his oud with him.
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he → leave → him
His family moved to az-Zawaida in central Gaza, while their home was later bombed and the instrument was left beneath the rubble.
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instrument → move → rubble
Yaseen had owned the oud since January 2023 and had learned to play with the help of a neighbour who was an oud player.
He later managed to recover his oud from under the ruins.
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He → own → ruins
He picked it up again and continued playing.
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He → pick → it
For Yaseen, playing is also a way to comfort children in the displacement camp.
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playing → comfort → camp
When the sound of Israeli drones frightens them, he plays the oud to give them a few moments of calm.
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he → frighten → calm
He dreams of leaving Gaza to continue studying music, playing on large stages and eventually owning a professional oud that will help him develop his skills.
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him → dream → skills
For now, he says, he remains attached to the instrument because “we still have something beautiful to offer.”
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we → say → something
When Huda Helassa, 20, left her home in Tal al-Hawa, southern Gaza city, in the first hours of the war, she took a signed T-shirt from the Access Microscholarship Program, a United States-funded programme that provides English-language and cultural education to young people.
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that → leave → people
Her classmates had signed the shirt on September 15, 2023, during their final class, two years before she graduated on September 27.
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she → sign → September
“When we left our home on the first day of the war, the T-shirt was one of the first things that came to my mind,” Huda says.
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Huda → leave → mind
She put it in her bag almost instinctively, wanting to hold on to something from a part of her life that had ended just days earlier.
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that → put → life
Huda and her family first moved to her grandmother’s house in Gaza City, then were displaced south, walking part of the way, and eventually reached Rafah in the south of the Palestinian territory.
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Huda → move → territory
In May 2024, they were displaced again, this time to Khan Younis.
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they → displace → Younis
When they returned to Gaza in January 2025, they found their home completely burned.
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home → return → January
“There was nothing left of the life we had there,” she says.
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she → be → life
…and 14 more, not listed.
The Aporia
