In the early hours of 22 October 2023, London-based journalist Ahmed Alnaouq messaged his family’s WhatsApp group to see how they were doing. No one responded.

“Usually when I sleep, I go into deep, deep, deep sleep. But on that particular night, I woke up suddenly at 4 or 5am. I don’t remember exactly, but it was still dawn and I was having a panic attack. My heart was beating very fast.

“I checked the phone, and so many people were sending me messages on WhatsApp and then deleting them, so you could see, deleted, deleted, deleted. It was like, why would people send me messages at that time?”

He called one of his friends, who told him an Israeli bomb had struck his family home in Deir el-Balah, Gaza. Twenty-one members of Ahmed’s family had been killed.

Ahmed is a journalist and the founder of We Are Not Numbers, which platforms the stories of people living in Gaza. He was inspired to create the organisation after his brother was killed in the 2014 war.

He tells Lucy Hough about growing up in Gaza, his love for his family, and the shared grief and anger of the people in Gaza.

“Enough with death, enough with suffering, enough with wars, enough with siege. I want them to be free. We all deserve to be free.”

These are the names of Ahmed’s family members who died on 22nd October 2023: Nasri Alnaouq, 75, Walaa Alazayizi, 36, Raghd Alazayizi, 13, Eslam Alazayizi, 12, Sara Alazayizi, 9, Abdullah Alazayizi, 6, Muhammad Alnaouq, 35, Bakr Alnaouq, 11, Basema Alnaouq, 9, Alaa Salman, 35, Eslam Salman, 13, Dima Salman, 12, Tala Salman, 8, Noor Salman, 4, Nasmah Salman, 2, Aya Bashir, 33, Malak Bashir, 12, Mohammed Bashir, 9, Tamim Bashir, 6, Mahmoud Alnaouq, 25, Ali Alqirinawi, 33.

You can read pieces from the Guardian series marking the anniversary of the Hamas attack into Israel and the war in Gaza here.

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