Global News Podcast - The Global Story: A Gazan journalist’s diary

Episode Date: October 19, 2025

Reporting on the war in Gaza has only been possible because of the work of Palestinian journalists, because the Israeli government will not let foreign broadcasters – including the BBC – inside the territory to report freely, even now a ceasefire is in place. One month ago, freelance journalist Ghada Al-Kurd began sharing voice notes with us, talking about her life, her hopes, her family, and her days reporting in Gaza City. Her job is dangerous – almost 200 journalists have been killed in Gaza in the past two years – and even with a ceasefire in place, safety is far from reach. Ghada has continued to report for us through her displacements, sharing her treasured memories of pre-war Gaza, and her fears and hopes for its future.Image: Ghada Al Kurd

Hey there, I'm Asma Khalid. And I'm Tristan Redmond, and we're here with a bonus episode for you from the Global Story podcast. The world order is shifting. Old alliances are fraying and new ones are emerging. Some of this turbulence can be traced to decisions made in the United States. But the U.S. isn't just a cause of the upheaval. Its politics are also a symptom of it. Every day we focus on one story, looking at how America and the world shape each other.

So we hope you enjoy this episode. And to find more of our show, just search for the global story, wherever you get your BBC podcasts. It's been a week now since the ceasefire in Gaza was announced. The bombs have stopped for now. And so we wanted to find out how people in Gaza are feeling now that the initial elation of the ceasefire has passed. And we specifically wanted to know what life has been like for Palestinian journalists who have been living. through this war while also covering it these last two years. And so we are going to do something a little different for today's episode. Over the past month, our colleague Hannah Moore, one of the producers on this show, has been calling up Rada Al-Court.

She's a freelance journalist from Gaza City, and she's reported for the BBC and other news outlets. Normally, the BBC would send our foreign correspondence into war zones, but that hasn't been possible in this conflict because the Israeli government has blocked international. media from going into Gaza independently. We talked a little bit about this on Monday's episode with the BBC's chief international correspondent, Lys Tusset. The media watchdog groups, the association of journalists, including the foreign press

association in this country, they've reiterated their demand for journalists to be let in. It's nothing less than heroic what the journalists of Gaza have done. And yet, a record number more than any other war the world has known, the journalists have been killed. From the BBC, this is the global story. And today on the show, a Garzan journalist's diary. The first time Chahda messages me is on September the 13th. Hello, this is Ghad al-Kurd, freelance journalist from Gaza.

She's walking through her neighbourhood, Ramal, which is in the west of Gaza City. And I can hear in the background normal everyday life. I can hear people chatting. I can hear car horns beeping. But I can also hear drones flying overhead. And she says that the Israeli Defence Forces, the IDF, has just carried out an airstrike nearby. She wonders what's going to have. happened to her city. I'm living this situation days and nights and I'm still here in Gaza.

And I love this city. I love Gaza. I love the places where I was born, where I was going to school, where I'm meeting all my friends here. It's a very hard situation here to live under the explosions around the hour. The sounds of these drones is killing us all the time. Whenever you are hearing the drones, it means that you are an unsafe place. Khadda's job is dangerous. At least 197 journalists and media workers have been killed in this war in the past two years. That makes it the most deadly conflict for journalists in history, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The Israeli government has repeatedly denied that its forces target journalists. By mid-September, the IDF is preparing to invade Gaza City, which it claims is now the main stronghold of Hamas. It flies over the city, dropping thousands of leaflets, telling people to evacuate. I watched the videos of the black and white. pieces of paper fluttering in the air and the children below running to catch them. Today is the 14th of September 2025 and I'm going now to the office to do my work. Just moving from my house to the office.

What I'm seeing around me, people they are leaving West of Gaza City, taking their tents to move to the south as the Israeli army just published evacuation flyers to evacuate immediately this is another threat they are

just throwing these flyers every day to oblige the people to leave to the south When Hamas attacked Israel on October the 7th, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage, it set in motion an Israeli government response that would cause hell for Gaza people.

At least 67,000 people in Gaza have been killed, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. Most of them, civilians, more than 18,000 of them, children. Reporting on this conflict means Fakhada, interviewing the people she lives beside, in her community, people who were struggling to find food, people who are losing their friends and family. This morning, I wanted to see my neighbor. I used to see them every day. But unfortunately, they have decided to flee to the south. I wanted to see Emma. She's 18 and she's married with a young, guy who loves her too much, unfortunately. His name is Anan. Anam went to Zikim crossing to get some food for his

pretty wife, but he got shot and killed. I'm thinking too much of Amal every day. She's pregnant now. I keep thinking of her every day. What will be her future and her baby in these difficult circumstances? Chedars also got her own family on her mind. At the start of the war, one of her brothers and his family was killed in an Israeli airstrike in the north. She thinks they're still buried under the rubble, but it hasn't been safe enough to go and check. Her father died around the same time, because they couldn't find him the medication or the food he needed. They buried him, but they don't even know if the grave is still there.

Now the IDF is starting its ground offensive. On the TV, I'm seeing videos of apartment blocks being covered. blown up. It's amazing how quickly they fall. And they leave these huge clouds of smoke in the air. This is how Prime Minister Netanyahu explains what the Israeli government's doing. We're not bringing down those towers to intimidate people. Those towers are serving as Hamas strongholds. We ask you to leave. And what is Hamas doing? They're asking them to stay because they want to use them as human shields as they've done from the beginning of the war.

But leaving isn't easy. I'm here with my oldest brother and he's sick and he cannot even walk. We didn't find a transportation, a car or anything to take us to the south and I cannot leave him behind me. And yes, I'm still reporting in spite of the airstrike, explosions around us. Khada also has two daughters to think about. There's Mira who's 13 and Fatima, who's 11.

She sends them out of the city ahead of her to stay with their dad, her ex-husband, while she stays behind with her brother. Good morning. How are you? On the morning of September the 15th, she sends me a photo of her office in Gaza City. The windows are smashed in and there are electricity cables and tiles hanging loose

from the ceiling. I have limited access to internet, she writes. Our office is partially destroyed and there is no connection. The IDF has bombed a building right next door. Targeted and all the street, the neighbourhood was partially destroyed. But we're still here. We're still reporting in spite of all of these circumstances. Over the next few days, Israel's bombardment will force hundreds of,

hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes, scrabbling to take what they can along the coastal road heading south. Hada and her brother, who's ill, have been struggling to find somewhere to stay in the south, but someone in her family offers space for him while she'll go and stay with friends. They pay a driver hundreds of dollars to take them what's normally a 20-minute drive.

It's 6'bm now. and screen like three hours I'm waiting in the crowd and I'm leaving this city and I think this is forever maybe this is the last time I will see Gaza destroyed Gaza, my beloved city

and I don't know what will be the next step of my life Over the next days, her messages get fewer and shorter. On September the 21st, I just send her a heart emoji. I don't know what to say. September the 22nd, how are you today, Hara? Hi, dear, I'm doing good. The next day, the same message, when we both know that's not true.

For the next few days, I hear nothing. On the 27th Hi Hannah, sorry for not sharing notes I have limited access to internet She tells me she's ended up at El Nusrat camp And that the road to get there was so crowded That it took 12 hours And now she's got to live in a tent

I'm worried about her and I give her a call Hello, Gada, can you hear me? Yes, I'm hearing you very well Where are you just now? I'm inside the cafe like waiting for your call. It sounds really quiet in there. I'm surprised.

Behind me it's very noisy. Okay. Like the windows are broken because if there was a target here, like they destroy a building behind me so I can give the noise of the streets. I'm going to go all the time. And, you know, the tent that you're staying in? What kind of structure is that?

Is that a sort of just like a camp? tent. It's a camping tent. It's like enough for four people. And I had to evacuate with my friends. And we have limited access to water. And we just built a manual bathroom. It's just made from covers, from blankets. And yeah. So it's very difficult even for me and for the girls. We are in an open land. So there's just no privacy at all? Nothing, nothing. Like everyone knows that when you are going to the bathroom,

they can see you. They can. Like we have to hide behind this bathroom. It's painful, actually, because I'm taking care of my privacy and keeps me under stress and pressure all the time. Talking to her, I realize that I know quite a lot by now, about the daily struggles that she's living through. But I don't understand fundamentally what has brought her to this point,

why she's reporting on this conflict. And what becomes clear, as we carry on talking, is that she just loves her job and she loves the place she's from. Before the war started, Khadr says she was really happy. She'd been working as a reporter for about a decade, and then she went to Istanbul. in Turkey to do a master's degree. Studying abroad is quite unusual for gaza and women.

While she was there, her daughters stayed behind with their grandparents. And then when she finished her course, instead of moving the family out of Gaza, she went back. I was very happy to come back to Gaza, to see my daughters again, see my family. We were happy to be together all the time, going with them to markets, buying for them lots of toys. and I want to teach them and to raise them. I wanted them to see me as an idol for them. This was August 2023. Hamas attacked Israel in October that year,

so she only had two months of normality with her daughters before everything changed. She says she's been displaced seven or eight times during the war. And every time she moves, she's got to gain people's trust. When you talk to people, who do they feel angry? with. Do they feel angry with Hamas? Do they feel angry with the Israeli government? To be honest, like they feel angry from everyone. Because before the October 7 girls, it was very beautiful. And we were having like cafes, restaurants, buildings, very modern buildings.

And now like, yeah, they're playing both Hamas and Israel. They are playing with our lives, like moving from north to the south, retaining from south to north, then resuming the world, in starvation, closing the roads, closing their cheekpoints, closing the crossings. She says everything is destroyed. Kids aren't going to school, they're not getting an education. She says that a lot of them are forgetting how to read. There's no social life and nothing to look forward to. I cannot hide, like, I'm under pressure, under stress.

I don't have, like, the ability to start working, actually. I was crying all the day to day. I feel like my brain is full and empty at the single time. You know what I'm thinking. I'm all the time, I told myself, maybe I need a psychological doctor or something just to talk to him, to express my feelings much bitter.

And I know myself like, I will work, but it will need time. Completely. Are there memories that keep coming back to you? you know, in terms of just trying to keep your spirit up? I'm just all the time. Sometimes I'm just watching some reels on Instagram about Istanbul where the places where I was living.

I'm telling myself, I want to disobleased. I want to disobleast. I know this a place. And yeah, sometimes like I just go back to my childhood where I was living in East of Jubellia with my parents, with my brothers. we were living inside big yard surrounded by trees like I want to go back to this

time where we were very happy and a very happy family living inside one house and even my daughters were with me and even like something like this

will you keep me updated if you managed to go and see them sure yes Yeah, for sure. Thank you. I'm going to let you go because I know you have a lot of things to do and it's a lot to talk about all this stuff, I imagine. Like, emotionally it's really a lot.

You can call me and we can discuss more if you want. Okay, we keep in touch. Inshallah, I hope to. When the news of the ceasefire breaks, people across Gaza are celebrating, playing music in the streets, cheering and cheering and crying. I called Chara again, and she sounds hopeful about what this could mean for Gazans. Well, I was expecting that President Donald Trump that he will achieve something at the end. But it takes time for him. You know, last time it was in January and it was a ceasefire and the second time now.

We've been talking here as people, as journalists, between each other, that it should come to the end, but it would take time. And Gaza needs now, Gaza needs new government. and you'll be able, and newly there's a new official that will look for a bitter future for the Palestinian who has been suffering for a long time here in Gaza. But as the days go by, the fractures in the ceasefire are starting to show. I'm recording this on Wednesday afternoon, and at this point, Hamas hasn't returned most of the bodies of the dead hostages to Israel. And Israel, in return, is withholding aid from Gaza. The hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the war, including Kada,

have also now got to weigh up whether it's safe to go back to the homes that they left behind if they're still standing. Hello? Hi, Kada. How are you? Hi. I'm good. Yeah? Yes, tired, but good. You've been reporting a lot, right? I've been seeing you on TV.

Since the ceasefire, like I didn't stop. Where are you now? In Osirat, leaving maybe after, in two hours to Gaza. Okay, you're going back to Gaza City? Again, yes. I'm waiting just for the car and I need my friend to come with me also to carry all the luggage that I have. Then we will move to Gaza. Is your brother going back with you as well?

No, he's not. He has some work. I told me now I will not be able to come back with me. Actually, I don't want anyone to be with me in the apartment. I want to be alone just to relax. That's it. 92% of the buildings in Gaza City

have been destroyed or damaged, according to the United Nations. But Chardos found out that her home is still standing. She's comparatively fortunate then to have somewhere to return to. How long she'll be able to stay is a different question. Has your job as a journalist become any easier over the last few days since the ceasefire came into place? No. It was like more heavy. It was heavier to me. I had to report many incidents. I have to make so many interviews.

And I find this place now in central Gaza. And I'm thinking of going back. again, without electricity, water, without anything. And being away from my daughters, I could see them twice only during my displacement in one month. I cannot tell you, like, I cannot describe for you how tired I am now. Yeah, after yesterday covering the news of releasing the hostages and coming back late at night, I couldn't even like, I couldn't even change my clothes. I slipped immediately.

She's been interviewing some of the families of the prisoners. that Israel has released. The release involved about 250 prisoners who'd been convicted of crimes including murder and deadly attacks against Israelis and about 1,700 detainees from Gaza who had been held by Israel without charge. They just were cheering up and playing summer music

and carrying Palestinian flags, mothers, wives, daughters, they were crying whenever they saw their relatives, which was a emotional day. But amid the celebrations, a lot of confusion, distress and anger. The list of who was going to be released changed several times. Some families waited for hours to find out their brother, father, sister, wasn't coming home after all. And at NASA Hospital, Khadah met people who were expecting to be reunited with their family members and instead were presented with dead bodies.

Some of them, they were waiting for their family, but they found, like, their family was completely killed during the war. So they were, actually, there was some kind of sad moments in the yard of Nasser Hospital. Not all of them, they were happy. Like, some of them, they lost all the family members and relatives and friends. And were shocked because they didn't get any information. about what is going on in Gaza. Wow.

Families, they were killed, yeah. Wow. How have things changed around you? I mean, you know, a lot of the early messages that you sent me, the sound of drones was just this constant in the background, and you were always fearful about bombings, explosions. You couldn't see. How have things changed around you in the past few days?

We stand with me some kind of calmness. here, quietness, there is no airstrikes, no targeting in the streets or even markets. Like, it was very risky to go out even after evening. Like, now we can return home late at night. This is the ceasefire. What does it mean for us? The Israeli bombing has paused, but in its place, a new violence. Hamas fighters and rival gangs get into deadly shootouts in the streets.

I'm afraid, like, some of the gangs will meet us in the roads and the streets and will ask us to give them whatever we have because there is no security forces in that area. I mean, in eastern area of the Gaza Strip. The BBC has verified video that shows Hamas executing eight people on Monday night. The it alleges were Israeli collaborators. Israel's previously said that it's supplied weapons to other armed groups in the strip. Meanwhile, the IDF still controls more than half of Gaza. In the past few days, its soldiers have shot and killed Palestinians

who it says cross the yellow line it has withdrawn to. Life is still so fragile. So your plan in the next few hours is to get in a car and drive to Gaza City. Do you want to rebuild your life there? Well, my life is, for me, I have finished everything. I have my own work. I have my own apartment. The problem for me is just to rebuild my daughter's life.

They need to go to school. They need to read and write again. They need the education. I will invest all my effort now just to keep them and to find schools for them. And if I have the chance to leave, take them with me. I'll do it. So because the Rafa crossing into Egypt from Gaza might open soon, do you think you might leave Gaza?

I must leave Gaza, not home for me, but because of my daughter. If their father agreed to travel with me, it will be my biggest victory in this world. I want peace for them. I want stability. I want better life for them. The difficulties here in Gaza, that they should all. the time look for food or water or electricity or Wi-Fi. The infrastructure is completely destroyed and it will mean months and years just to remove

the rubble and rebuilding Gaza. It will take care. I don't want to lose the future of my daughters meanwhile. Well, lovely to speak to you as ever and I'm glad it's in a slightly better the situation than last time we spoke. You are welcome to any chance. Thank you. All right, safe journey. Okay, thank you. All right.

Bye-bye. Bye-bye. Bye-bye. That was Rada Al-Cord, a freelance journalist from Gaza City, speaking with our colleague Hannah Moore, who also produced this episode. The executive producer on today's show was James Shield. It was engineered by Travis Evans,

and our senior news editor is China Collins. That is it for the Global Story for Day. We'll talk to you again tomorrow. Thank you.