Palestinians in Gaza flee their homes in the Zeitoun neighborhood, southwest of Gaza City, on Aug. 26, 2025, after the Israeli government approved a military plan to conquer the enclave's capital. (Credit: Omar al-Qattaa/AFP)
Noor al-Yacoubi is a 27-year-old translator and writer. She hasn't left the Gaza Strip since the war began on Oct. 7, 2023, and has been sharing her diaries with L'Orient Today during the war.Despite the fear etched into my heart by the heavy Israeli bombardment across Gaza City, I still refuse to prepare my emergency bag — the one that should contain our documents, some money and a few clothes for the three of us: my husband, our daughter Lya and me.Everyone here has one. It’s the bag you’re forced to have, to try to fit your house inside it. It’s the bag you grab when evacuation orders come suddenly, when you only have a few minutes' notice to leave behind your entire life.My husband keeps urging me to pack it, but I keep delaying. Packing it feels like surrender, like calling displacement into being. If I fold these...
Noor al-Yacoubi is a 27-year-old translator and writer. She hasn't left the Gaza Strip since the war began on Oct. 7, 2023, and has been sharing her diaries with L'Orient Today during the war.Despite the fear etched into my heart by the heavy Israeli bombardment across Gaza City, I still refuse to prepare my emergency bag — the one that should contain our documents, some money and a few clothes for the three of us: my husband, our daughter Lya and me.Everyone here has one. It’s the bag you’re forced to have, to try to fit your house inside it. It’s the bag you grab when evacuation orders come suddenly, when you only have a few minutes' notice to leave behind your entire life.My husband keeps urging me to pack it, but I keep delaying. Packing it feels like surrender, like calling displacement into being. If I fold...
