These college graduates in Gaza finished training just one week before the war began.
We reached out to everyone in the class WhatsApp group to see how they were doing.
It’s difficult to reach anybody in Gaza. Blackouts are common, and internet access is sporadic. But 34 responded.
They were among Gaza’s most ambitious students.
The dentistry program at Al-Azhar University was very selective, and very demanding, and they had big plans. “We dream a lot — more than a brain can imagine,” one said.
But instead of starting new jobs, they found themselves plunged into endless days of burying the dead and fearing for the living.
The students had hired a videographer to capture their celebrations on the final day of exams, about a year before they finished their internships, in 2022. “The most wonderful day in our lives,” one said. That was before the Israeli assault in the Gaza Strip began.
We reached members of the class of 117 students through Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. They wrote or talked to us from tents and balconies. Some even climbed on water tanks or walked long distances to grab a phone signal.
All told us they had lost loved ones. Two of their classmates were dead. And many feared they would be next.
Most of their homes lay in ruins. Many described being hungry, and losing drastic amounts of weight.
The survivors described how their loved ones were killed. The New York Times was not able to verify every attack or the circumstances of every death.
This is not the first time war has come to Gaza. Israel and the Hamas militants who made the territory their stronghold have fought repeatedly over the years, but Gaza has never seen this degree of destruction and death. Israel says that it is doing what is needed to defeat Hamas, and that it takes great efforts to protect civilians, but even its allies have begun to characterize the bombing as indiscriminate.
The graduates spoke with anger, desperation and bewilderment about how much Israel’s bombardment, now in its seventh month, has taken from them.
“We had a lot of wars before, but this one is just different,” one said. “Usually it would affect people, but not people that you know. This war took everyone.”
Loss came early for Madeha Alshayyah. She had fled her home in Gaza City, but her grandmother, uncles and cousins stayed behind, despite the bombs.
“They all died and are still under the rubble,” Madeha said.
Now, her sister is missing. She went to the market one day and never came back, she said.
Salem Shurrab had known his best friend, Mouayad Alrayyes, since they were children. They used to meet every night at a cafe at the same table.
Mouayad’s home was bombed while he was out, and his family was killed. He wrote to Salem that he wished he had died, too, “so I don’t feel the pain.”
“Your pain is mine,” Salem replied.
Hours later, Salem said, Mouayad was killed by a rocket when he went to retrieve the bodies.
Mirna Ismail’s home was destroyed, but that did not even come up in her WhatsApp groups.
Now, they discuss “only the urgent things, only who has been killed,” she said. “If someone lost his house, it is not an urgent thing now.”
Mirna lost two friends and a cousin. “We all know someone who has been killed,” she said. “And we can’t understand why they are killing them.”
The class WhatsApp group was how most of the graduates learned that two of their classmates were dead.
On Dec. 2, Aseel Taya was at home with her family, including her father, Sofyan Taya, a prominent researcher in physics and applied mathematics, when Israeli warplanes struck, the Palestinian Ministry of Higher Education said. They were all killed.
Officially dentists 👩⚕️
Messages have been translated.
“Why Aseel? What did she do to deserve that?” Mirna recalled feeling. “At that time it’s not easy to cry,” she said. “You only think that this is a lie and I will see her again.”
Aseel Taya (via Rasha H. Zendah)
In February came word of another classmate’s death.
Officially dentists 👩⚕️
Messages have been translated.
Noor Yaghi was sheltering with her family in central Gaza when Israeli airstrikes hit their home. She was “like a flower,” said Asmaa Dwaima, who described her “laughing and making fun of herself and us in the labs.” The Feb. 22 strikes killed at least 40 people, according to local media.
Noor’s remains were never found, said her cousin Asil Yaghi. “Her body seems to have become small pieces,” she said. “My heart is squeezing and my tears don’t stop.”
Noor Yaghi (left) and her twin sister, Aya (via Asil Yaghi)
For many of the students, the talk is of bodies and body parts.
Muhammad Abdel Jawad was visiting an injured cousin at the hospital when he heard that the residential tower where he lived with his family had been hit. He returned home to find his sisters with “burns all over their bodies,” he said.
His father was missing.
Two days later, Muhammad went back to the remains of his home. “I found my father’s body in front of me,” he said. “I tried everything I could to get him out.” His 16-year-old sister was also killed, he said.
Ola Salama said her uncle’s body was found with no head and no feet after his house was bombed.
“The scenes I saw were more horrific than horror movies,” she said. “But they are all real.”
“The missile cut her body into pieces,” Alaa Jihad Hussain said of her 22-year-old cousin, who was killed alongside her husband and daughter. With communications often down, some of the graduates feared their loved ones might be dead without their knowing.
Only by chance did some learn about a relative’s death. When Mahmoud Naser ran into an acquaintance at a shelter in Rafah, he learned his uncle had been shot, apparently by an Israeli sniper.
“I am afraid of dying these days, and that my friends won’t find my name among the names of martyrs because there are too many,” said Asmaa Dwaima, who, already, can count three friends and four cousins among the dead.
“I’m also afraid they won’t find an internet connection to log in and publish a silly story to commemorate me.”
Mohammed Al-Baradei (right) grew up with Ahmad Al-Hourani, attending university and spending afternoons in the gym together.
But when the house next door was bombed, a wall fell on Ahmad as he slept, Mohammed said.
“All my life was with him,” he said. “All of it ended in a moment.”
Alaa AlAbadla (right) last saw his friend Basel Farwana in the seaside area where they were sheltering. Basel was killed when he went home to get a nylon sheet and some blankets for his family’s tent, Alaa said.
But Alaa has little time to mourn. He is busy looking for clean water to survive. “We don’t have time to be sad,” he said. When Israeli forces invaded Gaza from the north, most of the graduates fled south. Mazen Alwahidi was one of the few exceptions.
Food shortages are most severe in the north, and Mazen said he had lost 46 pounds and has resorted to eating donkey feed. “It was like garbage,” he said. “But we have no other choices.”
He said his aunt, a cancer patient, died without access to treatment. They buried her on a street, near a destroyed graveyard.
Noor Shehada also remains in the north. Her family was relying on wild herbs to survive, she said.
“We are starving. We are living in the 18th century.”
Before the war, her uncle traveled to Israel for chemotherapy. Without access to treatment, he died, she said.
Najat Shurrab said her cousin’s 2-year-old twins, Muhammad and Hamada, had been killed. “They were defenseless civilians,” she said.
Ms. Shurrab has a 7-month-old daughter, Masa, and they have been living in a tent in Rafah.
Every day is a struggle to find diapers and food for her baby, she said, and she fears what the future holds for the child.
Areej al-Astal was pregnant when she evacuated first to a tent in Rafah and then to an overcrowded house with her husband’s family. She slept on the floor for two months.
With food scarce, she said, she gained no weight during her whole pregnancy. Eventually, she escaped to Egypt and gave birth to a son. “The word ‘dreams’ has ended,” she said. “It no longer exists in our imagination at all.”
More than 100 members of Areej’s extended family have been killed in the Israeli assault, according to a Gazan health ministry spokesman. “I can’t count them,” Areej said.
After being displaced five times, Rabeha Nabeel and her family decided to return home, though it was missing walls.
“Even if it’s destroyed, it’s our house,” she said.
Rabeha said 27 members of her extended family were killed in the first week of the war. “I lost five of my close friends, my house, my job, my university, my happy memories and my city,” said Mohammed Zebdah.
Mohammed was supposed to pick up his certificate on Oct. 8, but then the bombs started falling.
Many of the graduates told The Times they had just gotten jobs at clinics that are now in ruins. One said he had recently begun working as a volunteer in Khan Younis, treating as many as 60 refugees a day. A few others managed to leave the country.
Months after the joyous celebrations of the graduates, the buildings of Al-Azhar University where they had their dentistry classes bear the scars of war.
“On Oct. 7, all hopes and dreams went with the wind,” Mohammed said.
It wasn’t love at first sight for longtime collaborators Joachim Trier and Eskil Vogt, who met when they were both in their late teens.
“We were both camera assistants, taking care of the cables on a quiz show in Norway. Joachim was still skating and wearing the biggest pants I’d ever seen. They were as wide as they were tall. I was the black jeans and Dr. Martens type, so I was skeptical,” laughs Vogt, who co-wrote “Sentimental Value” with Trier.
Then they started talking about films.
“Suddenly, there was someone who’s seen more Fellini films than I had, and I had Hal Hartley films on VHS he wanted to borrow. This was the first time I met someone who shared my dream of making films, and that made the dream more tangible and real,” says Vogt.
Six features later, they are much more similar now, says Trier. Their way of working hasn’t really changed — they still start with ideas and develop the plot later on.
“We know it would be easier the other way around, but we still think of the plot quite late. Instead, we put notes up on the board and say: ‘Oh, I love this scene.’ And then we try to keep most of our darlings,” explains Vogt.
Trier agrees: “We don’t construct the story until very late. Instead of having scenes I don’t want to shoot and we don’t want to write, we try to make sure none of them just ‘tells the story.’ They all have to be about the characters or [present us] with an exciting visual situation.”
“We still have a phase when we entertain a lot of ideas, but we come to the core of it quicker now. I think we’re more honest with ourselves — and about what we want. We also have this silly rule that we shouldn’t think too much about production limitations and money when we write. When I become the director again, it bites me in the ass.”
How do they keep it fresh?
“I think we don’t,” laughs Vogt.
“There’s a lot of stuff going on when you make and release films, and we both like to go back to that safe space and rediscover that calm where it’s just our two voices. We are fortunate enough that our films generate more and more noise that we have to shut out, so when we work, we make it personal and small again.”
Following the success of 2021’s “The Worst Person in the World,” which earned them an Academy Award nomination for original screenplay — it also scored an Oscar nomination for international feature — expectations were high. Then again, they always are.
“Every film feels like that. The first one, ‘Reprise,’ was quite successful, so ‘Oslo, August 31st’ was made out of panic: ‘Let’s do what we want now, before we don’t sell out’,” says Trier with a laugh. “’Worst Person’ was this fun film that generated a lot of attention and we knew we were going to put [“Sentimental Value”’”] into a climate of expectation. We used that panic and that energy to go deep into something we cared about.”
In the film, which scored Grand Prix at Cannes, two sisters reunite with their absentee father, a movie director who wants to make a film about their family. It stars Stellan Skarsgård, “Worst Person” breakout star Renate Reinsve and Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, who seems to be on the same trajectory as Reinsve in terms of global recognition for her performance.
“A few months into that process, we thought: ‘We’re going to lose some of the people who loved ‘Worst Person’ for being so young and exuberant,’” says Vogt. Fast forward to November and the film is being embraced by an even younger audience and “spreading on TikTok,” says Trier with a hint of irony.
Their friendship allows them to get “very intimate and very personal super quickly” when they write.
“When I write alone, I procrastinate. When I’m procrastinating with Joachim, even if I haven’t done anything, at least I got to spend a day with my friend,” says Vogt. Trier adds: “It took me a long time to create a real family outside of art. I have one now, but Eskil is my longest relationship outside of my parents. We don’t need to be silly romantic about it, but we have to be honest: it’s a real gift.”
Trier continues: “If you look at our filmography, it becomes apparent we’ve been tracing the development of our life stages. I don’t think we could have made ‘Sentimental Value’ earlier in our collaboration.”
They say their relationship is “like every old marriage,” but having an open relationship isn’t an option just yet.
“I think we get enough excitement with other collaborators to keep the marriage happy,” says Trier.
“Eskil has always told me: ‘If you want to write with someone else, it’s OK’ We have those tough conversations, but it just hasn’t happened yet. I still call him during the shoot, so he’s used to me working with others and doing my own thing, and he allows that. I’m also happy to see Eskil making his own films without me at all.”
Vogt, who directed “The Innocents,” adds: “Maybe it would be interesting for you to make a film without me involved…”
“…And see how shitty I really am,” deadpans Trier. “I come from a family of artists — I love the team thing. Eskil can write alone — I would hate that. We get annoyed with each other, but that’s life: there’s still love at the end of the day. So, you know, touch wood. I hope it continues.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin held his annual news conference on Friday, which featured questions from journalists and members of the public across the country. (Credit: Reuters)
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Russia on Thursday warned that any Western military forces deployed to Ukraine under a post-war security arrangement would be considered “legitimate combat targets,” sharply criticizing a newly signed Paris declaration outlining security guarantees for Kyiv.
In a statement posted on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Telegram channel, spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the declaration, backed by Ukraine, the United States and several European countries, was not aimed at peace but at further militarizing Ukraine and escalating the conflict.
She specifically objected to provisions calling for a multinational force and continued military support for Ukraine’s armed forces, warning that any foreign troops, military infrastructure or facilities on Ukrainian territory would be viewed by Moscow as direct foreign intervention.
UKRAINE, US NEAR 20-POINT PEACE DEAL AS PUTIN SPURNS ZELENSKYY CHRISTMAS CEASEFIRE OFFER
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova attends the annual press conference held by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Jan. 14, 2025, in Moscow. (Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters)
“All such units and facilities will be considered as legitimate combat targets of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation,” Zakharova said.
“These warnings have been voiced more than once at the highest level and remain relevant.”
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Monday the U.K. and France signed a declaration of intent to deploy forces to Ukraine in the event of a peace deal, including establishing military hubs and facilities to store weapons and equipment after a ceasefire.
A soldier fires a third-generation Javelin man-portable anti-tank missile system during a professional training session on Jan. 7, 2026, in Ukraine. (Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“It paves the way for the legal framework under which British, French and partner forces could operate on Ukrainian soil – securing Ukraine’s skies and seas – and regenerating Ukraine’s armed forces for the future,” Starmer told reporters at a press conference after the Coalition of the Willing meeting in Paris.
RUSSIA ALLEGES ATTACK ON PUTIN RESIDENCE AS UKRAINE DENIES CLAIM AHEAD OF TRUMP TALKS
“We also have agreed [on] significant further steps. First, that we will participate in U.S.-led monitoring and verification of any ceasefire. Second, we will support the long-term provision of armaments for Ukraine’s defence. And third, we will work towards binding commitments to support Ukraine in the case of a future armed attack by Russia,” he added.
Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, France’s President Emmanuel Macron, Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer, U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and U.S. businessman Jared Kushner speak at a press conference after signing a declaration at the Coalition of the Willing summit on Jan. 6, 2026, in Paris. (Ludovic Marin/Pool via Reuters)
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said on X that negotiators made significant progress on a bilateral security guarantee framework and a prosperity plan for Ukraine, calling durable security guarantees essential to a lasting peace.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday said the document on security guarantees for Ukraine is essentially “ready for finalization at the highest level with the President of the United States.”
“Complex issues from the basic framework for ending the war were also addressed, and the Ukrainian side presented possible options for finalizing this document,” he added. “We understand that the American side will engage with Russia, and we expect feedback on whether the aggressor is genuinely willing to end the war.”
Belgium’s Migration Minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt is looking at “every possible solution” to increase the number of irregular migrants returned from Belgium, including renting or building prison space abroad to house foreign prisoners.
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