Chana Joffe-Walt

She has a cough, and there is no medicine. Her friends have scattered. Some of them are dead. Her relatives are all over. Some of them are dead. She's eating canned beans instead of burgers. She's finding glass in her brother's head. This is her life. This is the story she has to narrate.

She has a cough, and there is no medicine. Her friends have scattered. Some of them are dead. Her relatives are all over. Some of them are dead. She's eating canned beans instead of burgers. She's finding glass in her brother's head. This is her life. This is the story she has to narrate.

Okay, Banyas, I'm going to go.

Okay, Banyas, I'm going to go.

Go to sleep. Okay. Sleep well. I'll talk to you soon. Where are you? Are you still here? I'm here. Hello? Hello? I'm here. Are you still here? Yes, I am. We have a couple minutes left in this episode, and I have a small update. Recently, Banias' family moved, not far, an apartment a couple miles from Derbala, where they've been staying. The new place is less crowded.

Go to sleep. Okay. Sleep well. I'll talk to you soon. Where are you? Are you still here? I'm here. Hello? Hello? I'm here. Are you still here? Yes, I am. We have a couple minutes left in this episode, and I have a small update. Recently, Banias' family moved, not far, an apartment a couple miles from Derbala, where they've been staying. The new place is less crowded.

There's more privacy for her family. It has trees outside and a refrigerator. That doesn't work, but still. The apartment is quiet, temporary, and it's not home. Banias knows she can't go home, to the north of Gaza, where she's from. She knows her home was destroyed. She's seen pictures of her neighborhood exploded on fire.

There's more privacy for her family. It has trees outside and a refrigerator. That doesn't work, but still. The apartment is quiet, temporary, and it's not home. Banias knows she can't go home, to the north of Gaza, where she's from. She knows her home was destroyed. She's seen pictures of her neighborhood exploded on fire.

And she's seen video of the empty space where her house was, the small mountains of rubble. The gray couch with yellow cushions that she sat on after school, the chandelier her mother chose, the mirror by the door, the teacups and trays filled with treats, her new reimagined big girl bedroom with an Elsa bedspread, her desk, the pink moon they hung on the ceiling.

And she's seen video of the empty space where her house was, the small mountains of rubble. The gray couch with yellow cushions that she sat on after school, the chandelier her mother chose, the mirror by the door, the teacups and trays filled with treats, her new reimagined big girl bedroom with an Elsa bedspread, her desk, the pink moon they hung on the ceiling.

All of that is somewhere in that pile of rubble. All of that is there in the north of Gaza, their life. But the north of Gaza has been transformed. There were about a million people living in northern Gaza when the war started. Over 270,000 homes. Everyone was told to leave, to go south. Most people did.

All of that is somewhere in that pile of rubble. All of that is there in the north of Gaza, their life. But the north of Gaza has been transformed. There were about a million people living in northern Gaza when the war started. Over 270,000 homes. Everyone was told to leave, to go south. Most people did.

And now, those people are separated from the north of Gaza by a wide, militarized zone that they cannot cross. Israel has been building and fortifying this military zone for the last few months. It cuts right across Gaza, splits Gaza in two, completely separating the north of Gaza, where Banias is from, from the south of Gaza, where she's been displaced to.

And now, those people are separated from the north of Gaza by a wide, militarized zone that they cannot cross. Israel has been building and fortifying this military zone for the last few months. It cuts right across Gaza, splits Gaza in two, completely separating the north of Gaza, where Banias is from, from the south of Gaza, where she's been displaced to.

This military zone is called the Netzerim Corridor. It has a constant military presence, and it's big, around 20 square miles. It takes up more than 12% of the entire territory of Gaza. In order to build it, Israel cleared out a wide stretch of land, demolished hundreds of buildings from the Israeli border all the way to the ocean.

This military zone is called the Netzerim Corridor. It has a constant military presence, and it's big, around 20 square miles. It takes up more than 12% of the entire territory of Gaza. In order to build it, Israel cleared out a wide stretch of land, demolished hundreds of buildings from the Israeli border all the way to the ocean.

And in that space, Israel installed checkpoints and paved roads and flags and water lines and cell phone towers. It looks like something you'd put in place if you're planning to stay a while. A former chief of staff of the Israeli military has called the emptying out of the north of Gaza an ethnic cleansing. He said, quote, the land is being cleared of Arabs.

And in that space, Israel installed checkpoints and paved roads and flags and water lines and cell phone towers. It looks like something you'd put in place if you're planning to stay a while. A former chief of staff of the Israeli military has called the emptying out of the north of Gaza an ethnic cleansing. He said, quote, the land is being cleared of Arabs.

Human Rights Watch, Oxfam, Amnesty International have all called what is happening in Gaza an ethnic cleansing or a genocide. Israel denies this, and the Israeli military sent me a statement calling the charge of ethnic cleansing entirely baseless. It says it's working to dismantle Hamas's military infrastructure and is adhering to its obligations under international law.

Human Rights Watch, Oxfam, Amnesty International have all called what is happening in Gaza an ethnic cleansing or a genocide. Israel denies this, and the Israeli military sent me a statement calling the charge of ethnic cleansing entirely baseless. It says it's working to dismantle Hamas's military infrastructure and is adhering to its obligations under international law.