The Current - The Eyes of Gaza: Palestinian journalist Plestia Al Aqad

Episode Date: October 17, 2025

In the early days of the war, Plestia Al Aqad's very popular Instagram account was one of the ways people outside Gaza  learned about what was going on inside, and the harrowing impact on Palestinians, day to day. We talk to her about her new book, "The Eyes of Gaza: A Diary of Resilience," a collection of her diary entries from that time — and talks about her hopes for the future of Gaza in light of this week's fragile ceasefire.

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Hello, I'm Matt Galloway, and this is the current podcast. The peace that U.S. President Donald Trump has promised in the Middle East is still a very tentative one. This week, Israel has been delaying AID and to Gaza, arguing that Hamas is working too slowly to hand over the bodies of hostages. Hamas and the International Committee of the Red Cross have said that because of the widespread destruction. Recovering the hostages' bodies is a significant challenge. Meanwhile, civilians inside Gaza wait and watch to see if the aid arrives and if the bombings that they've lived with for the past two years have really ended. When the Israeli bombardment began, young Palestinian journalist Plestia al-Aqad

was one of the people trying to tell the world what was happening. Caitlin in this case are calling for ambulance, but there is no ambulance. Her Instagram account became a news feed, a window into what was happening on the ground. I'm trying to explain the situation, but I don't know what to say exactly. The more I walk, the speechless I get. She checks on her own home and walks through the rubble and the smoke next door. And right now I'm at my neighbor's house. They're not in their house, and their house is still like that.

the view. Of course, I can't be, so I'm getting out. Soon, Pleste El Akad had amassed upwards of 4 million followers on social media. She not only reported on what she saw, but shared some of her diary entries and her feelings about the death and destruction around her. Now, those diary entries are collected in a new book called The Eyes of Gaza, a Diary of Resilience. Plestia al-Aqad, good morning. Good morning.

I want to begin if I could, and we'll get to the book in a moment, but let me ask you about your reaction to the events of this past week. Oh my God, I expected this to be the first question, because right now all journalists are asking about the ceasefire agreement and what's happening in Gaza. While the Seas Fire Agreement, at least gives us a little bit of hope because that means Gaza's not getting genocided 24-7, yet at the same time, is it really a ceasefire?

when still thousands of Palestinians' bodies of children are still under the rubble and Israel is blocking the entry of the heavy equipment that is needed to retrieve them. With everything that is still happening in Gaza, it's hard to be hopeful because the Raff border is still closed and not everyone is allowed to enter or to leave and not everything is allowed to enter the country like medical supplies, food and all the equipment that is needed. So it's really mixed with emotions, to be honest. What are you hearing from people back home about how they're feeling about what's happening now? We're all feeling the same in a way, mixed emotions.

Like, the first moment when the ceasefire was announced, everyone was like, finally, oh, now we're allowed to cry. Now we can feel relieved. Now we can start processing and understanding everything that is happening. And I immediately posted on my Instagram account a post like a black screen written on it, the genocide is over. On a random Thursday, after two years, the world finally decided it had enough of the Palestinian blood. For the first time in two years, Gazans can sleep, knowing they'll be alive the next day.

For the first time, in two years, Gazans can sleep, knowing they won't wake up under the rubble. For the first time in two years, Gazans wouldn't be afraid to sleep. That was my immediate reaction, and when I started calling people and asking them, they felt the same. One of them was like, I just want to cry. That's the only thing I'm feeling. Another one was like, oh, Khalas, that's it. Is it over now?

It's just an announcement for Trump. It's over. He wasn't able to understand or process. But after a day, everyone started realizing that with everything that is still happening in Gaza, is it really as he is spire? Now what?

What will happen? What is the aftermath of all of that? People are still living intense. So when will the houses be rebuilt? When will the country be built? built. When will there be like schools? When will hospitals be able to function? There are thousands of injured people who don't even have medication. How much do you trust the various parties involved in striking this deal? There are a lot of different countries and parties involved in getting

to this point. How much do you trust those parties? I'll only trust when I see things happening on the ground. When I see Rafah borders being open, when I see the entered people being treated, when I see students in Gaza being able to pursue their education. When I see all of that happening, then I will believe that, oh, now there is actually a ceasefire. But words without actions, how much would they mean, really? One of the things that people are reporting on now, and this is various reports, in Gaza of Hamas carrying out executions on the streets, it's trying to regain control of Gaza.

How safe do people feel with Hamas in charge? The question is, how safe do people in Gaza really feel when there is occupation and there's Israel? Journalists are always obsessed with talking about like Hamas, what Hamas is doing. But the problem that Palestinians are really facing is occupation and siege and Israel's blockade. People have said that Hamas can't be in charge. Those who have reached this ceasefire deal, they are trying to reassert control. Do you think that the people are comfortable with that in Gaza? You can ask them.

We have asked them. We've spoken with people and they've, I mean, we've spoken with people who have protested at great risk against Hamas. I just wonder from your perspective, do you think people feel safe? Yeah, from my perspective, I answered and I said I have a problem with occupation and Israel bombing people. And not who could control Gaza, whether Hamas should have a role in that? My concern isn't who will control Gaza.

My concern right now is the people and Gaza and if they're, They're getting aid, they're getting food, they're getting medical supplies, they're getting the education they need, and they're getting their houses rebuilt. All what I care about, always and forever is the people. And during the time, I was in Gaza reporting, and right now when I'm reporting, I always focus on humans and their stories. Why did you want to tell those stories? When the bombing started, what did you think your role would be as a journalist?

My role as a journalist, specifically as a Palestinian journalist, to report on what's happening because often it's been people talking about us but rarely us talking about us. So I made sure to be a Palestinian journalist who reports in Palestine and who tells the story of the people without dehumanizing them. Were you surprised at how quickly it caught on?

I mean, you write in the book about fame and what fame was like and success. This became, and you became, known around the world. Were you surprised by that? What surprised me really is how things were escalating fast and how evil the world we live in is. I mean, I never thought that we'd live in a world where a genocide would be allowed. For example, I never thought that we'd live in a world where baby formula is banned from entering Gaza. I never thought all of that would be possible.

I never thought I'd see images of people being burned alive in terms. So what really surprised me is what's happening in the first place. but people were paying attention to your reporting and I guess what I was asking was what that was like to know that you were I mean the book is the eyes of Gaza that you were in many ways the eyes for the world of what was going on there I felt grateful that in a way at least now there's awareness and people know about what's happening but at the same time I felt sad that these stories or this book or this reporting needs to exist in the first place you write about the first time a hospital was struck, and how you imagined that the world in that moment would make the attack stop. What was it like to realize that that was not going to be the case? It was really disappointing and unbelievable, to be honest. That you believes that the world would pay, that you believes that something else would happen? I didn't believe that a hospital would be bombed in the first place,

and I couldn't imagine that this happening didn't stop and then the genocide. One of the things that you write about in the book is the fragility of life. And you tell an anecdote about being out, reporting, you're out all day. You're desperate to get home, but you realize that you've left your wallet behind, and you stop a taxi driver and asks him to give you a ride. He agrees to give you a ride, but there's a condition. What is the condition? The condition, he was like jokingly, yes, of course, you can get in.

It's fine that you don't have money, but just under one condition. When I get killed, please post a nice picture of four. me and say, like, pray for me, pray that my soul will rest in peace. And the way he said that as if, like, he knows for a fact that he will be a martyr and that everyone is living in Gaza is just alive by luck and it's about time and we will all be killed. It was just so sad. And I feel like I can't keep using the word sad because it's really, it just doesn't capture what's happening. But then again, what words can I use that will be enough to describe what's happening in Gaza or what people are feeling? Like, language feels.

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we'd love to talk business you write about how Palestinians know that eventually they will die and that there's an inevitability to that there's a sense that as the taxi driver said a fear of death all around him yes because Israel is killing thousands of Palestinians so why not you why not be next

how did you think about the possibility of your own death everyone who's living in Gaza during a genocide just know that they can be be killed anytime. They can be a target and they're just alive by luck. And if right now, I'm outside of Gaza, right now we're outside of Gaza and I consider that triagraphal luck. If we were in Gaza right now, we could have been one of the people who got killed or one of the people who got starved. So it's really luck. You went to a refugee camp on day 25, a refugee camp that was in Han Yunus. And in the book you write about looking into people's eyes directly, like looking

right at them. Why was that important to you? Because I believe I say what words fail to say often and sometimes people are just speechless because of everything that's happening. But when you look in their eyes, their eyes speak louder than any words and you can see how tired, it drained, disappointed they are. And there are like a lot of incidents I saw where, especially kids, were severely injured and burned that like for example there was this one specific child he was the only survival from

that three floor building that got bombed and they didn't know who he is like he wasn't speaking or anything he knows how to speak he was just too traumatized to speak or even say his name finally they asked him are you like is this your family name they were able to identify

his family name he nodded his head and when they started like people coming to see like do you know this person? Is he from this family? Many people who are supposed to be his cousins weren't able to identify him and say yes or no because of how severely burned and injured he was. And that gave me a type of trauma where I always started to stare at people's face to make sure like I want to memorize your face. I want to memorize your mouth, your eyes, your facial expressions. Like I don't want to be in a position one day where I need to identify if this is my mom, for example, and I can't even say yes or no.

How do you cope with that? How do you handle what you have seen? It's hard really to cope with it, especially that it didn't end yet. I think the only coping mechanism, that the only way we will be able to cope or progress when we see Gaza being rebuilt and people being healed. There are moments in which you talk about how people believe that Gaza is a desperate place

and that those who believe that yes there is struggle, yes there is extraordinary difficulty but there's beauty or was beauty to that as well and beauty in the individuals. What are people missing when they just think of it as a desperate place? I don't really blame the people. If anything, I blame

the media because the media always report in Gaza when there's an Israeli aggression, when there is a genocide, but they don't report on our life before that, our daily life. They don't report on the people and the beauty of the people. So it's really the way the media frames us. So that's why people reach to conclusions that aren't completely accurate. How would you describe what that life was like before?

Life in Gaza was never normal. We were living under occupation, under limited hours of electricity, limited clean water, and even the sea, the only thing that can't be bombed. There's limitation to how deep we can swim in it, to how much we can fish, how much fishers can fish in it. But despite all of that, despite occupation, despite disease, we made Gaza the most beautiful place on earth in our eyes, because really it's not about the place, it's about what the people make out of the place. And Gazans people are one of like the kindest, most genuine people, most hardworking people and most overachievers people that made Gaza a unique special place and built something from nothing. Do you think about about, about,

those images often? Do you think about what that place was like often? What I'm mainly thinking about other than thinking what that place was often, I always think of what that place will be like and what does the future of Gaza look like. You write in the book that you got a call from your mother who said, and this happened very abruptly, that the family was going to leave Gaza. You say that that decision to leave was the hardest decision you ever had to make. What was it like to get that call that you would be leaving? It was really difficult because it felt like you don't have an option or a decision. I never thought about leaving and during all the previous Israeli aggressions, my family

and I never left Gaza, but this time it was different, knowing that journalists are getting targeted and their families are getting targeted as well. And even just being Palestinian and and existing in your homeland, you know you will be a target. You ended up in Australia, and one of the things you say is that you felt happy, and you'd almost forgotten what that word means. Can you tell me about that, what it was like? It was really so real to suddenly be in a different country where you can look at the sky and know it's safe,

and you're only seeing clouds, not seeing smoke, not seeing bombs, quad-captors and drones. You can go to the mall. and you'll find endless shopping options. You can buy whatever you want. You can go to the food court. You have a lot of options. And I felt like I'm here and they have all these options.

But people in Gaza are trapped and they don't have the privilege of even finding food, that finding food, which is supposed to be an essential and something normal became a privilege to them. So it's really hard to navigate all of that and to navigate how unfortunately Israel, succeeded in isolating Gaza from the rest of the world and that the experience of a person living there is different from an experience of another person who doesn't live in

Gaza. What's it been like for you to watch what's happened since you left from a distance? You use that word surreal to be in the mall as you mentioned but watching from a distance, what was that like? It was really sad and heartbreaking to see what's happening.

We've spoken with people who have left and they've it's not guilt that they have felt but there is a part of them that is still there. It's like they've left but they haven't left everything. Do you understand that? Yeah, I understand that

because even if you're physically outside of Gaza you can't be mentally outside of Gaza. One of the things that you read about in the book is this idea of being forced to appear grateful that you survived and made it out of Gaza alive. Can you tell me about that word grateful and what do you mean that you were forced to appear grateful? Because it's a grateful position to be able to travel and be safe, judging that that option isn't even available for all people.

It's not like the borders are open and anyone can travel. It's either you need to have another passport, to have a family member, have another passport who, like, the government can help. Like, there's a specific people who can travel. Like, it's not even an option. So to have that option and to be able to survive while your people, your family, your friends, your loved ones are still. trapped there. It makes you feel like you should feel grateful that you survive. But in the same time, it's like, I can't feel grateful knowing that my people are still being bombed and bombed and genocided. How do you feel about going back? If this peace process holds, and you've

talked about rebuilding, what would it mean to you to be able to go home? First of all, what it would mean for me is to have the option of going home right now because international people who don't hold Palestinian passports can go to Gaza right now. Meanwhile, I can't go to my country right now. And if I want to go to their countries, I need a lot of paperwork and passports. So I'm here.

I can't go back home, but they can go back to my home. There's a poem in the book about home. What is home to you? Yeah, I end the poem by answer. that and how home is the sea for me because it's the only thing that Strait can't bomb. Can you imagine yourself being back in the sea?

I hope so. You've talked about hope a little bit. Let me just end with this. The book ends with a letter to your readers and it says with unwavering hope. Where does that hope come from for you? And what does that hope look like?

I can't say that I always feel hopeful and optimistic but I try most of the time to be hopeful. because that's the only thing that no one can take away from us. So hope for me looks like by Gaza being rebuilt. And that rebuilding, when you imagine it, when you close your eyes and imagine what that rebuilding looks like, what do you see in your mind?

First of all, to be able to see Gaza being rebuilt, I need to see the people in the first place getting the medical treatment they need, the borders being open and focus on that as a first step. Is part of that also accountability in terms of accountability for what's happened in Gaza over the last couple of years? Yes, of course, Israel needs to be held accountable for what they did because we're not supposed to live in a world where someone can kill children and get away with it. I'm glad to have the chance to talk to you. Thank you for speaking with us.

You know how important your work has been to people around the world, right? And I'm glad people around the world are keeping their eyes on Gaza and learning about what's happening. Thank you very much for talking to us. Thank you. Plastia Al-Aqad's book is called The Eyes of Gaza, A Diary of Resilience. You've been listening to the current podcast. My name is Matt Galloway. Thanks for listening.

I'll talk to you soon. For more CBC podcasts, go to cbc.ca slash podcasts.