The faces of Israel-Hamas war that reaches one year old

The Star

As the Israel-Hamas war reaches the one-year mark on Oct 7, we take a look at some of the faces of the conflict that has killed more than 43,000 people in Palestine and about 1,200 others in Israel.  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00This is a boy's mother.

00:02This is a boy's mother.

00:04This is a boy's mother.

00:06He was hit on the head with a baton.

00:08Under the child is his sister.

00:10His sister is next to him.

00:24We used to smell the martyrs everywhere.

00:26When we came to sleep,

00:28when we came to eat.

00:30The smell of blood.

00:32The smell of blood.

00:34When we eat, we don't remember anything.

00:36We smell it, but it doesn't exist.

00:38My colleagues,

00:40my followers,

00:42my long-time friend,

00:44from the beginning of the first day of the war,

00:46from October 7,

00:48from 6 a.m. until now,

00:50I am on my head.

00:52Although I was injured more than once,

00:54and the injury was very serious,

00:56I was always on my head.

00:58Almost every day,

01:00continuously,

01:02there are situations that affect us.

01:04Every day, every incident,

01:06every child we see,

01:08every target,

01:10there is a situation that affects you.

01:12Because we are human beings.

01:14Of course, we feel people.

01:16When you go to the target,

01:18you consider that the target is one of your family,

01:20one of your loved ones.

01:22This affects us,

01:24but we can't hide it.

01:54When I look at it, and every time I looked at it,

01:56I would ask myself,

01:58am I actually seeing what I'm seeing?

02:00It's crazy. It's crazy.

02:02It's...

02:04The photos I took are not bad photos.

02:06I'm not talking technically.

02:08I didn't take photos of bodies.

02:10I took photos of people smiling, having fun,

02:12and laughing, and many of the photos I took

02:14are during the daytime, under rocket fire,

02:16and that is the most Israeli thing

02:18I can ever imagine.

02:20People say, hi, this is Shai.

02:22I'm a NOVA survivor.

02:24Sure, true, but I'm Shai,

02:26who has been a photographer for 10 years,

02:28and that's my identity as a photographer,

02:30not just as a NOVA survivor.

02:32And so when people introduce me,

02:34I ask to be introduced as a photographer

02:36who survived the NOVA,

02:38because that's not just who I am.

02:40That's not all I have to offer.

02:42What I'm trying to achieve with this series is

02:44I'm trying to put something together

02:46that will last this community

02:48more than just a day or a month.

02:50I want to put something together

02:52to help anybody who needs it out

02:54in a long-term fashion.

02:56I was inspired by the people,

02:58you know, their resilience.

03:00I like you sitting straight, yeah.

03:06It's hard to believe

03:08when I wake up from my sleep

03:10that it's the same thing

03:12that never ends.

03:14I've been living the 7th of October

03:16for almost a year.

03:18And I don't know

03:20if I'll be able,

03:22against the clock,

03:24to bring it back to life.

03:26Everyone will come back.

03:28Our goal is to save

03:30as many people as possible.

03:32And Matan is part of the kidnappers

03:34who are still alive.

03:36It's also the elderly

03:38on the personal, motherly level

03:40that I couldn't give Matan

03:42while he was kidnapped

03:44from his apartment in Kibbutz Niroz.

03:46I have to do everything I can

03:48to save him

03:50from the 7th.

03:52At the moment,

03:54as a mother,

03:56I can't fill my lungs

03:58with small,

04:00confused breaths.

04:02And I guess it will change

04:04when I see Matan

04:06with his eyes closed

04:08when he stands in front of me.

04:16For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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