ohamed, Mahmud,Udai, Sondos, Rajaf, Malak, Hamada, Montasem, Bisan, Haia.

They are not nameless. They are not numbers. They are not another statistic to be graphed. They are flesh, blood and bones. They are beating hearts and alive minds. They are humans. The above-named are ten children who escaped the deadliest seven-week conflict between Israel and Palestine in 2014. Today Gaza has again buried about 500 unidentified babies.

The opening shots of the 2014 movie Born in Gaza encompass the beauty of the coastline, gradually moving towards what life means for the children of Gaza. Drone shots fan out over the destruction of neighborhoods continuing for miles and reaching every corner. As far as the eye can see, there are buildings reduced to cement and bricks dangling from steel wires. In 2023 the picture looks the same if not more grotesque and horrifying. Entire neighbourhoods are being carpet-bombed.

Born in Gaza, these children never saw a day of normal life, their Palestinian crimson blood spilt over the coast of their native land, Gaza. One collects plastic from trash to earn bread for his family. One has picked up missiles and done post-war restoration on his land eleven times practically rendering 70 acres of agricultural land useless. One lost her parents while playing in her house, one saw his brother get struck from air and two saw their friends get blown up on a beach during a soccer game.

“The largest piece that was left of him was this size (the child shows the size of barely a head while explaining what happened to his brother). I saw him get blown up… with my own eyes. The pieces got mixed up with others.”

They live amidst dwindling resources in uninhabitable places. Farming and fishing - the two main sources of income – have been banned and are insufficient to support the population. Israeli stikes “every two years” have left everything in a shambles. Most people live in the constant fear of being on the brink of receiving a notification to evacuate everything one has spent years to build – safety, homes and dreams. Sometimes, even that warning is missing.

Gaza just survives, in 2014. In 2023 too, it is surviving.

“Only three relatives attended the funeral; they were scared so it was done quickly.”

Narratives are proof of how Gazans are unable to even attend funerals, grieve and recover in the peace and privacy of their homes. They “have no privacy” and “have no freedom to do anything.”

The documentary by Hernán Zin accurately reflects the innocence of Palestinian children who were targeted in their homes, in their schools, in their recreational areas and who had to bury family and friends.

There are children desperate for physical and psychological assistance. Living in the largest open-air prison, they can only dream of cutting-edge technology that might enable better survival. Those most in need are deprived of all aid. These children suffer from minor as well as major injuries e.g. “my guts flew out from the airstrike.” Therer are constant additions to psychological trauma where. Even the term, post-traumatic stress disorder, is rendered useless for there is no time to grieve as people one has been close to keep departing.

This isn’t just a documentary from almost ten years ago but also a drop of testimonies from the ocean of the people of Gaza. Are the testimonies similar ten years later? Yes, if not worse.

“Are you asking me why they bombed an ambulance? Have you ever heard of any war where ambulances are attacked?”

In 2023, Israel has yet again redefined the laws of war, targeting ambulances, cutting crucial medicine supplies and fuel to hospitals and blowing up entire hospitals teeming with patients and refugees. They claim that it is the first time such a thing has happened. They also say it was a Hamas missile that misfired. They have been doing it since 1948. “War crimes,” “collateral damage,” “civilians” and “Palestinian humans” are terms that lose meanings here.

Hernán Zin’s documentary has only narratives and pictures, for there is no better way to understand and feel the emotions and the lives of these children, their parents and the elderly. The documentary does not include opinions from experts or the stance of the UN or occupation authorities or political organisations representing Palestine.

From being the largest open-air prison in 2014 to being a genocide camp in 2023 the entire world’s “expert opinions” can be seen as being empty words and empty promises. Documentaries are meant to create awareness and give a voice to those who are oppressed. Now the voice is victim to doublestandards, shadow banning and biased reporting. Even Hernán’s excellent work is nothing compared to the government, military and media propaganda by the world powers. When calls for peace and freedom get marked as hate speech and anti-Semitism we fail to understand humanity.

“Suffering has driven people crazy.” (2014)

Humans never learn from their mistakes. In every century we repeat the mistakes of our ancestors. The powerful are painted as innocent “people with no land” and the innocent are branded as “terrorists and people who will grow up to kill settlers.”

Half of Gaza is underage. The highest victim counts of martyrs and injured are always children. Somehow they are overlooked as “they were in the way.” This isn’t just a documentary from almost ten years ago. It is a drop of testimonies from the ocean of the people of Gaza. Are the testimonies similar ten years later? Yes, if not worse.

For years I have had words on the tip of my tongue firing away at anyone who was against Palestine but for the first time in my life, I have truly lost the ability to express what I’m feeling. With every picture and video coming from Gaza I keep losing words faster than I process what I’m seeing. Even wars have rules. Or do they? As the voices of Gazans keep getting fainter with the rubble choking their throats, they might end up being wiped off of the map – their screams and wails falling on deaf ears.

Humans turned into numbers on a Wikipedia page. Daily lives are buried under the debris. A land once full is now barren. This was the Gaza of 2014 and this is the Gaza of 2023. The world watches a genocide.

“From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free.”

The hope fades with every second of silence. It is at this point that we watch the documentaries from ten years ago on the leading platform Netflix to learn that this isn’t an aggression that started this month. It has been happening since 1948. Only this time the innocent spoke up in a feeble voice, to resist, only to be silenced forever.

The writer is an undergraduate student of psychology at FC College, Lahore