October 7, 2023. The day Hamas launched their full-scale attack on Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 200 people hostage. This was also the day when bombs began to rain down on Gaza, day after day, night after night. Now, almost two years later, people around the world continue to watch as the war rages on. As the death toll in Gaza begins to climb, Palestinian communities there struggle with sleepless nights and survivor’s guilt and the deathly silence from the country that they used to call home.

   The current war in Gaza began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas, which the Department of State identifies as a Foreign Terrorist Group, launched a military operation into southern Israel, taking around 200 hostages, 59 of which were taken from the Nova Music Festival. In response, the Israeli army launched a full scale military operation on the Gaza strip, targeting hospitals, schools, refugee camps, homes/neighborhoods and other areas known as “humanitarian safe zones”. This has led to a major crisis in Gaza, leading to tens of thousands of deaths, along with hundreds of thousands of injuries. The conflict has had brief periodic breaks, such as one in November 2023 that lasted around a week and another in January 2025 that lasted around three months. However, these military operations in Gaza do not only affect the ones living there, they also affect Palestinian Americans in our own community.

   “It’s affected every part of my life. I, like many Palestinians, are personally impacted even though I was born here. A large portion of my family still resides in Palestine, listening to what they have gone through is mentally, emotionally, and even physically debilitating,” an anonymous UC Davis law student and activist said.

   She requested to be anonymous because she was targeted in the past after organizing protests and fundraisers- labeled as a “terrorist”-for speaking out against war crimes.

   “The second you get to Gaza, you can start hearing the drones, the bombing, and the screaming, from the very minute you go inside Gaza. I went to the hospital in Khan Yunis, it was full of displaced people sleeping on the ground, and outside, almost stacked on top of each other,” Yousef Khelfeh, co-founder of the Palestinian American Medical Association and doctor of oncology and hematology, said.

   Khelfeh went on one medical mission since October 7. He and his team went to Gaza from Jan.-Feb. 2024, taking a different approach than most people. Since Gaza has a shortage of doctors, many were needed on the ground, especially with the lack of medical supplies. However, getting into Gaza was extremely difficult, as there are multiple restrictions on who is allowed in and out of the strip. Israel has stated that they make certain “humanitarian exceptions” for entry into Gaza, but even then it is extremely difficult for entry. Israel stated that  these restrictions are “for the safety of Israel.”

   “Living in Gaza was worse than anyone could have described it. The difference between the life here and the life there is unbelievable. But the people stay strong throughout it all. I have never seen people with such strength, and courage. They’re the real heroes,” Khelfeh said.

   Of the estimated 50,000 deaths accounted for by The Palestinian Ministry of Health, 31% of the deaths are under 18 and another 30% are women. The list records the estimated deaths from Oct. 7, 2023 to March 22, 2025. It is difficult to account for the death toll since it is completely based on a counting system of those reported dead in the hospital, and all the hospitals in Gaza are under major stress, most are completely inoperable.

   “I always try, and whenever I’m in situations to talk about it, I talk about it. I always go to the rallies in Sacramento by the capital. And, I mean, that’s all I really do,” an anonymous GBHS Palestinian boy said.

   Others take a different approach, rather than going to protests and rallying, they send money directly to Gazans since most of the food and necessities they need have been restricted or cut off by the Israeli government. The money they send helps bring aid, food and water to the people of Gaza, in their time of tremendous need.

   “I don’t really go to protests, but my family does make a lot of donations to organizations and things that help Palestine,” Dunia Abboushi, a freshman at GBHS, said.

   Khelfh expresses her concern over the large toll of medical casualties impacting the Gaza community.

“The staff, the local staff, though they are showing resilience, they are tired. You can see that in their eyes and it had been four months at that time so you can imagine how they feel now. From time to time we hear that so-and-so medical staff was killed in one of the bombings,” Khelfeh said.