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Samir Al Boji, Samed Abu Zarifa and the NBC News crew in Gaza documented the war between Israel and Hamas for nearly two years.
Samed, a 32-year-old husband and father of two, has been a journalist with NBC News in Gaza for more than a decade.
“We expected it to be a big war and wide operation on Gaza... but we didn't expect it to be like that.”
Samir, a 42-year-old husband and father of four, has been a camera operator in Gaza for about 20 years.
“Life was normal and suddenly you wake up to the sound of rockets and shelling. We had no idea what was going on around us at first.”
Samir Al Boji, Samed Abu Zarifa and the NBC News crew in Gaza documented the war between Israel and Hamas for nearly two years.
Samed, a 32-year-old husband and father of two, has been a journalist with NBC News in Gaza for more than a decade.
“We expected it to be a big war and wide operation on Gaza... but we didn't expect it to be like that.”
Samir, a 42-year-old husband and father of four, has been a camera operator in Gaza for about 20 years.
“Life was normal and suddenly you wake up to the sound of rockets and shelling. We had no idea what was going on around us at first.”
This was their life before the war.
Life in Gaza was not perfect — but it was filled with perfect moments.
Samed with his daughter Mariam, son Wajjeh and wife Amal Helles, a fellow journalist.
Samir with his sons Mohamed and Zein.
Samed with his son Wajjeh.
Samir and his wife Samar Al-Bakri.
At 6:30 a.m. Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas and other militants launched a surprise terror attack on Israel, firing thousands of rockets while hundreds of fighters stormed nearby communities and kibbutzim. More than 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.
Israel declared war with the stated goal of recovering all hostages and dismantling Hamas, including its extensive network of underground tunnels. More than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed since then, including thousands of children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. (Earlier this year, the Israeli government claimed without providing evidence that it killed 20,000 militants.)
International journalists were barred from entering Gaza unless escorted by the Israeli military, creating a yearslong foreign media blackout.
The vast majority of coverage from inside Gaza has come from Palestinian journalists like Samed, Samir and the NBC News team there.
They jumped into action on the first day of airstrikes.
Filmed in Gaza
Watch the full documentary about Samed, Samir and NBC News’ Gaza crew here.
Filmed in Gaza
Watch the full documentary about Samed, Samir and NBC News’ Gaza crew here.
For nearly two years, the crew worked, ate and slept alongside each other, sending footage to editors every day. Eventually, they set up camp in a tent alongside Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza, next to other media organizations.
SAMIR:
“We went through situations where you see children dying right in front of you, buried under rubble, and you can't reach them … You hear someone calling for help while you're filming, but you can't do anything.”
Filming was perilous and unending work. Early in the war a bombed building caved in on Samed as the team was reporting on an Israeli airstrike.
Samed got out of the building. But NBC News’ crew was not immune to the war’s horrors.
This is Yousef Al-Khozindar, a 27-year-old father who died in April, when Israeli forces struck a tent near Samir and Samed’s, killing several journalists. Yousef freelanced for NBC News procuring food and supplies for the team. Freelance journalist Ehab Al-Bardeini was badly injured and recovered after three weeks in intensive care.
The Israeli military said it had been targeting a photographer who they described as a “terrorist.”
SAMED:
“If I’m out to do work, Youssef would call me to check up on me. He would go, ‘Don’t do this or that, be aware of this.’
He always worried … he meant so much to me. He was the sweetest part of life, not just for me, but for the whole crew.”
A hunger and malnutrition crisis spiraled this year when Israel blockaded food and other aid for weeks, and then allowed in only a trickle of supplies for months after.
Samed, Samir and the team struggled to find sustenance
SAMED:
“We were scared, and the starvation process started. No food, no water, no reliable medical teams working efficiently.”
The Israeli government claims Hamas systematically used civilians as human shields, stole food aid, and fired on its own people. It maintains that leaflet drops and text warnings of strikes saved countless Palestinian lives, along with the delivery of millions of tons of food aid.
In August, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification declared a famine in parts of the enclave’s north, including in Gaza City. At the time, the number of people who died of starvation increased.
On July 29, 2025, Samir, who is diabetic, collapsed and was treated for malnutrition.
The Israeli government claims Hamas systematically used civilians as human shields, stole food aid, and fired on its own people. It maintains that leaflet drops and text warnings of strikes saved countless Palestinian lives, along with the delivery of millions of tons of food aid.
In August, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification declared a famine in parts of the enclave’s north, including in Gaza City. At the time, the number of people who died of starvation increased.
On July 29, 2025, Samir, who is diabetic, collapsed and was treated for malnutrition.
He recovered, but it was a turning point:
It was time for the team to leave.
After months of appeals, NBC News secured Samed and Samir’s evacuation with the support of several governments, including Serbia, Israel and the U.S.
On Aug. 5, Samed and Samir began the journey to leave Gaza along with other colleagues and members of their families.
The journey to the border was perilous.
First, they were shot at and had to turn back.
During the second attempt, their vehicle broke down in an area heavily patrolled by Israeli forces.
But eventually, they secured a new vehicle, and after an hourslong ordeal the team got out.
Since then, they have been reunited with their families and are trying to rebuild their lives, having left Gaza with little more than the clothes they were wearing.
SAMIR:
“Gaza will live after this war has ended, a permanent ceasefire, rebuilding, getting back hospitals, rebuilding the infrastructure, the universities, and everything in between.”
SAMED:
“We have a saying, no joy in Gaza is ever complete.
I got out of Gaza, but unfortunately our souls are still trapped there because we still have brothers, colleagues and friends all still in Gaza.”
During the course of the war, Israel has repeatedly stated that the fighting could end immediately if Hamas laid down its arms and returned the hostages.
207 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed since Oct. 7, 2023, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.
It is the deadliest war for journalists since the CPJ started tracking.
Watch the full documentary here:
Art and Photography Direction
Zara Katz, Chelsea Stahl and Max Butterworth
Development
Nigel Chiwaya and Jiachuan Wu
Reporting by
Chantal Da Silva
Editing by
Brinley Bruton and Tom Namako
Contributors
Alfred Arian and Khalid Razak
Photography for NBC News
Rehab Eldalil in Cairo and Thana Faroq in Amsterdam
