Transcript from “Talk to Gaza” webinar, 4th October 2025
Talk to Gaza in October 2025 once again linked our team with the outside world. We discussed the horrors and the difficulties, but also the value of our contacts. The temporary healing that these provide echo the reconnecting activities inside Gaza. These “Healing Circles” take many forms. Talk to Gaza is one.
Talk to Gaza. October 4th 2025. Responses to the “Ceasefire”
Healing Circle. Gaza. October 2025. PTC(UK)
Around 35 participants from the UK and Ireland met with 7 members of the team in Gaza on Zoom, who despite precarious connections and very difficult living conditions managed to join the meeting and share their testimonies.
Dr. O. told us that Gazans were happy to hear about the possibility of a ceasefire agreement but still worried and anxious as the air strikes continue. Even as he spoke to us a bombing strike was heard nearby in Deir al Balah where he is still living with his family. The people are exhausted from war and starvation. They are between losing hope and believing that peace will come. They spend most of their time looking for food and water. There is no school. Streets are dangerous and children are not safe going out.
Many people are arriving in Deir al Balah, going south from Gaza City which they have been told to leave. But there is no safe place to go, or space to put their tents, even if they have been able to afford to buy one. It is very expensive to buy a tent ($1,300 for a tent). Transport by donkey or truck is also expensive. Everywhere is crowded, many people are living on the streets, schools and shelters are crowded. This is a huge humanitarian crisis.
“We are still in our home but living with fear and anxiety. Basic produce is missing from the market. We think about the future for our children.” His 12 yr. old son has not been to school for 2 years. There is no place to play, outside is too risky. “I ask my son not to go out. Our lives (as mental health workers) are full of worry as are all others in Gaza. Only activity helps us”
UA. No one dares to send their children out into the street. Our team work and live in the same hard conditions as our neighbours and clients. We try to give hope to the community. The Days of Joy team arrange activities for families and children to share together, play together. The team members give psycho-social support within their own neighborhoods since there is no transport to take them further afield. We can therefore provide some service to the scattered community.
AG. said, “Today our eyes are open regarding the recent news and we are hopeful. This suffering is too much. It is a tragic situation for everyone. It is frustrating. Your contact reminds us that we are not alone. We see you on the streets of London protesting for us. These and the fortnightly meetings sustain us. We thank and send greetings to our supporters.”
AA is in Khan Younis with family. “This morning has brought some hope. We are scared, hungry and disturbed by many evacuations. No food or water, no medicines. This is war against us. There is no mercy for us. The people are deliberately being made to suffer. Children and families are pleased to receive help from the team, but the children are scattered and spend from 2-5 hours every day in queues for water and for cooked food. The team organises activities for them such as dancing and singing, and physical movements. Sometimes they offer individual activities for children. Some children have such problems that they cry all the time, or they are aggressive. We also teach mothers psycho-social activities for their families. Many of the fathers are out all day finding food and water.
SA Thanked the meeting. She was living in North Gaza City. Her house was destroyed and she has lost many members of her family and friends. She has been displaced to the South. She and her family had to walk 15 km as they did not have transport. She is optimistic about today’s news but is not sure. They moved from Gaza City a few days ago and are now in the Nuseirat area, living with relatives, near the PTC centre.
BA al R told us he had lost many relatives and friends in these last 2 years. Today’s news has given him hope. B lives in Nuseirat. He usually works with M & T. The team are not sure where T is, but we know he is working with groups in his area. The rest of the team have moved out of Gaza City to Nuseirat.
AG says that they are preparing for T to come to Nuseirat. B has a big family and does not have the financial capacity to move. The team are trying to help him to move.
He stresses that ‘evacuation’ means being ‘forced to move’. You will spend all your money to move and only be able to bring a little of your belongings. Some people don’t have the money. It is very painful to have to move from your home even if only ¼ of it remains.
David told the meeting that PTC(UK) have sent all the team members their regular salaries and also, twice, a bonus to help each of them in this difficult time.
SAK was not able to connect with the meeting today. He and his immediate family have moved into a tent in Al Mawaasi, near Khan Younis. He sent his apologies. There was no internet there throughout the morning.
Answers to questions, and comments from supporters in the zoom meeting:
People in tents are very vulnerable as they are in open areas. They are exposed to shelling and bullets. It is risky to find water and food.
Can we help provide tents now that the winter is coming with a change in the weather?
What can we tell people about sending money? Money can go to individual team members via the Nat West Bank in the UK to the bank in Ramallah The team access their salaries through their mobile phones.
There are difficulties with the army not letting stuff through into Gaza. How are the team coping? Food parcels come on a small scale to some traders, via International Aid and “traders”. It is dangerous to approach the “Gaza Humanitarian Foundation”.
Some of the team are doing individual zooms with students. UA said that helpers need help, supervision from outside Gaza on how to deal with children in constant crisis.
Healing Circles were discussed. This meeting can be considered one. Samar Jabr has shown they can be a collective addressing of a collective trauma. They can connect people in circumstances where people are being deliberately disconnected. They rely on interconnectivity.
Meetings like today’s help to lessen fragmentation. Small significant moments like these help sustain resilience.
We noted the pain that comes from not being able to be the parent you want to be.
Recognising what parents are doing is helpful.
Mohamed said that the team talk and share between themselves, but being listened to from ‘outside’ is especially valuable. People outside have the strength to listen deeply and feel without being overwhelmed. “I hold a space for you”.
AA then joined the meeting. He said that though some people are happy with last night’s news there are many different feelings amongst Palestinians. In his view this ‘Agreement’ will not succeed. He said that Gaza City & the North are a disaster, though some places in Gaza are quieter. He has a bad back and cannot work. He cannot get pain relief medication. He had a scan and needs surgery. Maybe he will try to go ‘outside’.to get the surgery. It is hard to walk in the street. He can’t carry heavy items.
When asked what more we could do for him /them. He said, “You do your best. Many Palestinians are proud that people in London support us. This gives us strength. But Arab countries have not helped.”
“We need to talk. I can’t talk to people in Gaza, because their own suffering is so great, they do not have the strength to hear mine.”
AA’s daughter wants to go to school and to play outside with her friends, but it is too dangerous to send her. “I refuse her. It is not easy. We cannot make it safe for them. In Gaza there are gangs & it is not safe. I bring books and pens and I teach my children at home.”
One person on the zoom wanted to report back to her Quaker meeting in Ireland. Some Gazans have come for health care there but their families have been left behind. The Quakers are working for the Reunification of Families. There are 30 families who could be coming to join them. Other suggestions included contacting the Red Cross who have to ask Israel agree and then the Irish have to accept them. Children Not Numbers have lawyers who can help. The meeting closed with expressions of hope for a relief from the bombing to last.
Support in London. UK-Palestine Mental Health Network
