Gaza Grad: A Palestinian-Russian family’s longing for home

Forced from Gaza, a Palestinian-Russian family rebuilds their lives across Russia and Egypt, longing to return home.

When war engulfs Gaza in October 2023, members of a Palestinian-Russian family hold on for as long as they can. They have a route out of the Strip. But Anna and Ghassan Ashour and their daughters, Lisa and Donia, stay on despite the worsening conditions, because Gaza is their home. But as the violence escalates, they’re eventually forced to leave and head to Russia in search of safety. For Lisa and Donia, life there is unfamiliar. Struggling with the language, culture and separation from Gaza, the two of them move to Egypt, closer to home and to the possibility of a return. Split between Russia and Egypt, the family must find new ways to live with distance, uncertainty and longing. Their story reveals the enduring tension between the need for safety and the place that they still think of as home.