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At around 6:30 p.m., I decide I’m not going to sleep at the hospital tonight. I need to shower and eat real food. I call my best friend, Yara, and tell her I’m on my way to her house. Everything in Gaza is within walking distance, but I’m absolutely exhausted. I realize with dread that, if I’m not mistaken, I’ve left my wallet in mama’s bag, and I don’t have any money at all. So I do something embarrassing, and ask a taxi driver if he can drive me to Yara’s for free. He agrees on one condition: ‘When I get killed’, he says, ‘post a nice picture of me online, and ask people to pray for me.’

Everyone in Gaza knows that they’ll eventually die, and that it’s only a matter of time. I smile at the taxi driver and assent.

ALAQAD, Plestia. The Eyes of Gaza: A Diary of Resilience. New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2025.