Basem Naim

Where is the Middle East one year after Hamas' terrorist attack on Israel? Is there a prospect of peace? What could this solution look like? Or is the war spreading? These big questions are in the background of the two personal stories in this documentary. Israeli Gil Dickmann is fighting for the release of his cousin Carmel. She was abducted as a hostage in the Gaza Strip during the Palestinian terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. Between fear, frustration and hope, Gil has become one of the spokespeople for the hostage families, who are putting pressure on the Israeli government of Prime Minister Netanyahu with numerous protests and actions. In the Gaza Strip, too, people are desperately hoping for such an agreement that could end the war and the deaths. 14-year-old Usaama lost 19 family members in an Israeli attack. He himself survived with serious injuries, but even after several operations he cannot walk.

This feature length investigation by Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit exposes Israeli war crimes in the Gaza Strip through the medium of photos and videos posted online by Israeli soldiers themselves during the year long conflict. The I-Unit has built up a database of thousands of videos, photos and social media posts. Where possible it has identified the posters and those who appear. The material reveals a range of illegal activities, from wanton destruction and looting to the demolition of entire neighbourhoods and murder. The film also tells the story of the war through the eyes of Palestinian journalists, human rights workers and ordinary residents of the Gaza Strip. And it exposes the complicity of Western governments – in particular the use of RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus as a base for British surveillance flights over Gaza.