“Oh my God, the key to my grandfather’s home!” exclaims 10-year-old Najwa, her voice brightening with excitement as she clutches the key in her small hand. Standing atop a heap of rubble where her grandparents’ home once stood, she adds “Now, it’s all destroyed.”

Six months after Close Up first met Najwa in Rafah, the so-called ‘safe zone’ in southern Gaza where 1.5 million Palestinians had taken refuge from relentless Israeli bombardment, our team finds her back home in Khan Younis. Since Israel began its war of retaliation on October 7, 2023, almost all of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been forced to evacuate more than once. Najwa and her family have been displaced from their home more than five times.

“When I first arrived in Khan Younis, I feared we might be part of this destruction,” she recalls, reflecting on her return after leaving Rafah just before Israel’s ground invasion in May 2024. Unlike most homes that lay in ruins, her house was spared the worst. “Thank God we weren’t affected, that we didn’t die in this devastation,” she adds.

In this Close Up film, Najwa takes us on a journey through the places in her city: her home, her grandmother’s neighbourhood, and her school. Each location, a reminder of the life she once knew, now devastated by war. Her greatest wish is for the war to end and for life to return to normal. Najwa’s story, The Girl Who Survived, highlights the effect of conflict on children and the strength of family bonds amidst devastation. Even in destruction, her memories of Gaza’s places endure, reflecting resilience in adversity.

Credits:

Producers: Ruwaida Amer, Antonia Perello

Cinematographer: Real Gaza Productions

Editor: Antonia Perello

Writers: Tierney Bonini, Donald Cameron

Sound mixer: Yago Cordero

Executive Producer: Tierney Bonini

Senior Editor: Donald Cameron