“It is hard to answer a question about Gaza now. Knowing that all the places we talk about are bombed and gone. Most of the people that I talk about are gone forever.”

This is how Palestinian journalist Plestia Al Aqad summed up her feelings about the war-torn enclave during an emotional session in Sharjah on Sunday.

Addressing the Sharjah Entrepreneurship Festival 2025, the young journalist said: “It is hard to remember memories that are gone and no longer there.

“What used to break my heart while covering Gaza was to go places that were bombed and see the pictures of people on the floor who lived there and no longer exist.”

More than 47,400 Palestinians were killed and over 111,000 wounded in the Gaza war that started on . After the last month, many Palestinians have returned to their homes in Gaza.

“We are human. We all love life and have dreams,” said Al Aqad.

The journalist said there were thousands of heartbreaking stories that can be found in Gaza. She spoke of a little girl who lost both her legs and hands in the bombing.

“I met her in a hospital. She didn’t want her photo to be published. ‘That is not me and that is not how I want to see myself and the world,’ the little girl told me.”

“Just like everyone else, we are not born to die, we didn’t choose this life,” said the young Palestinian as she shared dozens of photos of her Gaza war coverage. “All the stories that you see online … are really nothing (compared to) what was happening on the ground. There are many untold stories,” she said.

To show the other side of Gaza, Al Aqad also spoke of how people were celebrating birthdays and special occasions amid bombings and airstrikes.

“As people moved from North to South Gaza, a young Palestinian boy who had lost both his parents was wearing a ‘happy birthday’ cap and distributing biscuits. Even, when there is a genocide, people were generous.”

Al Aqad also showed a photo of an old lady who moved from North to South Gaza with her pet birds, turtles and children after Israel asked all people to evacuate the area, in a gesture of compassion amid the relentless war.

After completing her education, Al Aqad wanted to report on untold human interest stories of Gazans, but she was suddenly thrust into the war zone.

“What motivated me was the fact Israel was bombing universities and the schools in Gaza became a place of shelter. So students have backpacks but these backpacks do not contain pens and books, but their items of their displacement and limbs of their younger brothers that were amputated (in bombs and strikes),” she said.

She mentioned that, during the war, others were discussing the Palestinians' stories, but there were no Palestinian voices.

She recalled conversation she had with her grandfather and said that he always used to talk about Israel’s atrocities and she thought he was exaggerating.

“It is not possible. We’re not living in a world full of evil. But I was living in a bubble. When I grew up and saw the Israel genocide in October, I realised that my grandfather was not exaggerating at all,” said Al Aqad, who comes from a family of displacement.

“People ask me where I live, I am everywhere. I don’t live anywhere," she said.

Al Aqad also spoke of food and water scarcity in Gaza. She said there was an instance when she and a few other journalists found fruits, but she refused to eat them without washing them. “But the journalists said they will not allow using drinking water for washing. So I ate it without washing it. Now I don’t mind eating fruits without washing,” she said, smilingly.

While she was out covering stories of the people, Al Aqad said random people used to come to appreciate her and give food which showed the generosity of the people of Palestine.