Frame by Frame: Nour’s War on Erasure

Nour Alsaqqa always saw the world through colours and composition. A creative soul by nature, she studied Radio, Television, and Film abroad, chasing a dream that married her love for storytelling with visual expression. But nothing in her education could prepare her for what awaited her back home in Gaza.

When she returned, she joined Mashareq, a media company she had long admired. Just two months into her job, everything changed. The genocide began. “Life stopped for a minute,” she says. “Everything I ever knew and believed in crashed and crushed me.”

Struggling to cope with the helplessness that engulfed her, Nour made a shift into humanitarian work. It became her lifeline, her resistance. “Working in the humanitarian field is the only thing that makes sense to me,” she explains. Now, she is a communications officer at a leading medical organization, using her skills to document, to inform, and to fight back - one image, one word at a time.

Nour’s work began with managing supplies and delivering life-saving materials across Gaza. But her passion for storytelling led her to a different path; capturing the crisis through her camera lens and her words. “I produce, film, write, and edit despite the limits,” she says. “I enjoy every aspect of it.”

Working on the frontlines has taken a toll. “I wish we could speak in the past tense,” she says quietly. “The danger keeps increasing. Every time I leave home, I’m terrified I’ll lose someone. I pray I never have to endure that.”

Yet she keeps going, not because it’s easy, but because she must. “I cannot afford not to.”

What keeps her grounded is her belief that her work matters. “Sometimes I get to educate people about what’s really happening. I try not to give in to the dehumanization, not to normalize the atrocities.”

Her proudest moments are the ones where she gets to challenge the system. “I’ve influenced how my organization communicates. I push them to say more, to do more.”

Resilience doesn’t come easy. “I’ve been sleeping on the floor for two years. I get sick often. My body is breaking down. But I stretch. I survive. That’s all I can do.”

As a woman, Nour carries the weight of empathy. “I see other women, I feel for them. They carry the heaviest burdens. It’s my duty to amplify their voices.”

Her message to other women in conflict zones is clear: “It’s not an individual journey. Change is collective.”

And to the world? Her voice is steady: “You are complicit. Everything you allow to happen to Palestinians will eventually happen to you. There is no freedom without sacrifice  and you have not sacrificed a thing.”

She Stands:Gaza is a personal initiative from the women of Gaza to amplify the voices of resilient women in Gaza who are navigating survival, family care, and community service amidst the ongoing crisis. Sharing their stories of strength, courage, and hope. #GazaWomen #Resilience #AmplifyVoices"