Conversations from a year in Gaza and Israel

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.3 • 2.6K Ratings

🗓️ 4 October 2025

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

We look back over the past 12 months of the conflict between Israel and Hamas through the conversations we have recorded. It is almost two years since Hamas militants attacked Israel – killing 1200 people and taking 251 hostage. In response, the Israeli government vowed to destroy Hamas. Since then – according to the Hamas-run health ministry – more than 60,000 people have been killed in air and ground attacks, the United Nations says that most of the population has had to leave their homes, and half a million are facing starvation. Throughout the conflict, we have spoken to families of those killed by Hamas or taken hostage. One of our producers, Kristina, has also been receiving regular voice notes from 17-year-old Sanabel in Gaza. “October 7th is what I hate the most,” Sanabel says. “Because of this date, I lost everything in my life, literally everything.”

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts.
0:09.0	Hello, I'm Rahul Tandon.
0:11.2	Welcome to the documentary from the BBC World Service.
0:15.1	This time, in a special edition of BBC OS Conversations,
0:19.3	we hear from people in Israel and Gaza who share their experiences
0:23.6	from the past year.
0:26.9	October the 7th marks the second anniversary of the Hamas attack on southern Israel when
0:33.5	gunmen killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostage. In response, the Israeli government vowed
0:41.3	to destroy Hamas. Since then, according to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, more than 60,000 people
0:49.0	have been killed in air and ground attacks. The United Nations says that most of the population has had to leave their homes
0:57.0	and half a million are facing starvation.
1:01.6	Throughout the conflict, we've spoken to families of those killed by Hamas or taken hostage.
1:07.6	And from Gaza, one of our producers, Christina, has been receiving regular messages from a 17-year-old girl called Sanibel.
1:16.9	In this edition, you'll hear some of those messages and conversations.
1:21.5	They've all been recorded over the past year and provide a snapshot of the devastating impact of this war.
1:28.7	We'll hear first from Sharon.
1:30.8	Her elderly parents were seized by Hamas militant
1:33.7	and Simon, a survivor of the 7th of October attack.
1:38.4	I've never had a feeling of fear like that in my whole life.
1:43.0	It's totally unbelievable. You know, we always had
1:47.6	a thought that there will be peace one day, but this didn't happen. And now, after the 7th of
1:53.8	October, there's no forgiving and never ever going to forget what they did. It was atrocious, barbaric.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.