The last game of Tarneeb

A cherished card game is no longer fun to play because it has become associated with war.

Saleh Jamal Safi
Three kilos of sugar was all that remained

Israeli forces invaded and ransacked a home, leaving behind destruction, graffiti, and excrement.

Mustafa D. Batnain
The six exoduses of Aseel Al-Balaawi

“Refuge” proves elusive in Gaza, where avoiding danger means facing it head on.

Aseel Al-Balaawi
One of 2 million people in Gaza moving backward

The way to endure life is to wear a fake smile and convince yourself that this is just a nightmare.

Noor Yacoubi
Two gifts, a cake substitute, fake snow, and family

An improvised birthday party for five-year-old Farah creates an oasis of hope amid despair.

Wejdan Wajdy Abu Shammala
‘From now on, you are another person’

Two theatre colleagues shared many dreams. But since Oct. 7, none have been completed, and all has changed.

Ala’a Sbaih
A promise of safe passage, a sea of white flags — and a bullet

A young man and his family, seeking to escape death in north Gaza, meet death on the road.

Alaa Mahdi Kudaih
Childhood paused

Forced to flee, then wounded by shrapnel, a 12-year-old girl in Gaza wonders why she has to live with such pain.

Israa Mohammed Jamal
Ramadan continues, despite sorrow and hunger

In the Rafah displacement camps, people improvise to find joy and tranquility during the holiest of Muslim holidays.

Faress Arafat
What if?

Pages of history drip with my blood / and my grandfather’s tears / for his murdered olive tree.

Basman Derawi
A child should never die

A child should play, laugh, giggle / Call mom to make breakfast / Throw himself into grandfather’s arms / And live

Salaheldin Eleyan
God calls me again

I ask God, How are you? / I am sad, of course, he says.

Basman Derawi

Our Writers