Transcript

Group Chat | This American Life | Episode 861

From This American Life · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 60 min · 8,703 words · 65 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Group Chat | This American Life | Episode 861", an episode of This American Life published June 2, 2025 (60 min, about 8,703 words). It mentions 7 people, works and ideas, including Yousef Hamash, Hana Jaffy Walt, This American Life, Muhammad Mahawish, Hamas.

What this episode is about

The narrative revolves around Yousef Hamash, who created a family group chat to coordinate logistics and communication amidst the chaos of war in Gaza. Following Hamas's attack on October 7th, Yousef becomes the central figure in relocating his extended family to safety, navigating a harrowing journey marked by displacement and trauma over six months.

Key takeaways

  • Group chats: where family love meets sibling sabotage—who knew intuitive naming could lead to existential crises?
  • In war-torn Gaza, humor becomes a survival tool; laughter is the last act of rebellion against despair.
  • Ysef's WhatsApp: a blend of lighthearted banter and heart-wrenching realities—proof that joy and sorrow coexist.
  • Food shortages challenge basic human needs; when money can't buy meals, what's left is an emotional currency.
  • Even in digital spaces, the weight of survival gives new meaning to 'How are you?'—sometimes silence says it all.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 5:00: Yousef Hamash, This American Life, Hamas
  2. – 10:00: This American Life
  3. – 15:00: Al- Moasi
  4. – 40:00: Hana Jaffy Walt, Muhammad Mahawish, This American Life
  5. – 45:00: Islamic University of Gaza
  6. – 55:00: Muhammad Mahawish
  7. – 59:31: This American Life, Hana Jaffy Walt

Notable quotes from "Group Chat | This American Life | Episode 861"

  • Website, thisamericanlife.org. From WBEZ Chicago, it's this American life. I'm Hana Joffy Walt sitting in for Ira Glass. Family group chat created May 19th, 2023. two years ago before Ysef Hamash send this link to a.
    about Hana Jaffy Walt · at
  • Beach. But what day? Tomorrow. Clown face. Yousef, who started this group chat for his family. He's been on our show before. Yousef Hamash. He was a humanitarian aid worker in…
    about Yousef Hamash · at
  • Bombing. Increasingly, the bombing was where she was living. The other sisters were moving. Yousef figured Aal would too and made a plan for her to move to a safer area called…
    about Al- Moasi · at
  • This interview to show you that I'm I'm reading to you. She did. Huda is a very serious student. She's studying English literature online through the Islamic University of…
    about Islamic University of Gaza · at
  • Muhammad Mahawish is a journalist and writer from Gaza. Diane Wu produced this story. You can find more of Muhammad's reporting in Al Jazzer and MSNBC. He's also a contributing writer for The.
    about Muhammad Mahawish · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Yousef Hamash — Person · Main subject / interviewee · 2 mentions · first at
    Central figure whose family WhatsApp messages structure Act One; a former Gaza-based aid worker now outside Gaza trying to support and protect family members still inside.
  • Hana Jaffy Walt — Person · Host (sitting in for Ira Glass) · 2 mentions · first at
    Introduces the episode, frames the narrative structure, and guides the listener through the family group chat story and broader reporting segments.
  • Muhammad Mahawish — Person · Featured guest / reporter (Act Two narrator) · 2 mentions · first at
    Provides reporting on hunger during the blockade, including interviews with people in Gaza (e.g., Huda), expanding the episode beyond one family’s chat to broader conditions.

Companies & orgs

  • Hamas — Company · Key actor · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as the group that attacked southern Israel, triggering the war discussed in the episode.
    There, lived there his whole life. He started this group chat with his family months before the war, before October 7th when Hamas attacked southern Israel.
  • Islamic University of Gaza — Company · Referenced institution · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as the institution where Huda is studying, showing the resilience of education amidst war.

Places & events

  • Al- Moasi — Place · Referenced location · 1 mention · first at
    A safer area in Gaza where Yousef planned for his sister Ail to move, illustrating attempts to find safety within the war zone.

Media & podcasts

  • This American Life — Media · Host · 5 mentions · first at
    The podcast itself, hosting the episode and providing the narrative framework.
    Version, you can find that at our website, thisamericanlife.org. From WBEZ Chicago, it's this American life. I'm Hana Joffy Walt sitting in for Ira Glass. Family group chat created May 19th, 2023. two years ago.

Full transcript with timestamps

A quick warning, there are curse words that are unbeeded in today's episode of the show. If you prefer a beeped version, you can find that at our website, thisamericanlife.org. From WBEZ Chicago, it's this American life. I'm Hana Joffy Walt sitting in for Ira Glass. Family group chat created May 19th, 2023. two years ago before Ysef Hamash send this link to a seal salabil and heba so they can enter the group manal we are all gathered together what a blessing heart emoji I don't have Hassan or Ahmed Ysef must add them I sent the link above you idiots so you can send it to them Ysef reshares link send them the link I sent it manal we want to go out tomorrow to the beach Okay. Why is the group called the shitty family? Yeah. Who's the son of a gun who names a group? Laughing emoji. Please.

Isn't this Ysef's doing? It's Yousef. I did it for your sake, sister. God bless you, pride of the Arabs. Bal wants to invite us to the beach. Hadil, I want to take you to the beach. When? We're thinking either tomorrow or Monday. I will let my children go, but what day? We're thinking Monday. We need a watermelon. That's the most important thing. You're making conditions as well. The watermelon is more important than you. I'm being mocked. Yousef, whoever wants to go with us, like this message. I will set up a time later. Where? To the beach. But what day? Tomorrow. Clown face. Yousef, who started this group chat for his family. He's been on our show before. Yousef Hamash. He was a humanitarian aid worker in Gaza. Grew up there, lived there his whole life. He started this group chat with his family months before the war, before October 7th when Hamas attacked southern Israel.

After that, Ysef became responsible for moving his whole family, his four sisters, their extended families from one place to another, trying to escape Israel's bombing. After 6 months of displacement and near-death experiences and worrying for his children, Ysef did something he thought he'd never do. He left Gaza. This was last spring. He went with his wife, mother, and his kids to Egypt. His sisters decided to stay behind. And since that time, almost no one has been able to leave Gaza. That was a little more than a year ago. The group chat is still going. What are they talking about in the WhatsApp group?

Yeah, I don't know. Daily life. Complaining or making fun, sending I don't know. Sometimes it's jokes, sometimes they're crying. It depends. Voice, text, photos, everything. Just like this is like the the refuge for them where they go and more the sisters are talking and my mother and we just observe. We meaning the people who are outside Gaza now. Ysef, his wife, his kids, and his mom. Inside Gaza, the sisters make plans, talk about who they ran into that day, share pictures of their kids, of bombings. They send voice memos to each other to share news and cheer each other up. My sister is feeling down. Come, let's go out. Let's go somewhere. I'm buying. I have Ahmed's money. My sister is feeling low. So, let's do something fun. In a year plus since Yousef has left, the sisters have all moved again.

They're not altogether anymore, and they keep moving. They've survived air strikes, illnesses, months with no food at all coming in. And they keep checking in here in the chat. Yousef, the problem solver in the family, the don't worry, I'll take care of it guy. He keeps trying to figure out how to solve the same problems over and over. When his sister Aiel texts, "If I clean, I get dizzy. If I cook, I get dizzy. There's no edible food. It's worse than you can imagine." Yousef replies, "Buy anything." A seal, don't worry about me, love. All is okay. Then they go back and forth. A seal, 1 kilo of rice is 35.

Yousef, no problem. I'll pay. Ail, a kilo of flour is 50. Yousef, whatever the price. A seal, the issue is not the price, it's the cash. Yousef, I don't know what one can do. A seal, the situation has become very bad. Yousef, the problem is I can't do anything. Even your money doesn't help you. You can't find food even if you have money. Exactly. If if you if it's available, it's very very expensive. But mostly you cannot find it. What's what's it like for you to talk to a seal? Yeah, I was talking to her today, but it's it's just actually we I feel useless. Her daughter is crying with a year old crying cuz there's no bread. There's nothing she can feed her. Even all what I can do being outsider now, all what I can do is send money or just secure money, but it's not enough anymore.

Ysef spent the first six months of the war experiencing everything his family is experiencing together. And when he left, it felt inconceivable that it could go on this way, this much longer. But it has. His phone keeps getting new messages, and he keeps reassuring and responding and arranging and trying to provide comfort. And then these last few weeks being unable anymore, even with all his skills and connections, to get money, cash into his sister's hands. Hearing how their children are not eating, something changed for Ysef. He felt literally dumbruck. Even words are not helpful anymore cuz they are finished. I used all the words and I think if I need to start find other languages, but is like hopefully it's going to be fine. It's going to be a matter of days. Hopefully.

you know all what I can do is just to be supportive but even still those things it's useless anymore I just even saying them became like something stupid like I don't know what to say to be honest I I and is okay in Arabic language we have okay we're the guard against them all these words became useless even these words that we were using all of our life to calm each other it became meaningless because even using it became unfair. It's really painful when you communicate with anyone from Gaza. It's really really painful. Do you Does it make you want to avoid it? 100%. Yeah.

Otherwise, I wouldn't stay saint. I will lose my mind. Leaving Gaza made use of the newest member of a wellestablished club. There are about 5 million Palestinians living inside the West Bank in Gaza. And the rest about 9 million Palestinians live all over the world. People who are trying to maintain family and connections across countries and time zones and bad cell connections. Today's show is about those conversations inside one family and between friends, colleagues. Yousef's family agreed to share all the messages they sent back and forth to each other over years. We got them translated. All the late night musings and updates and petty resentments and serious resentments and jokes and plans and fears, intimate moments where you can see how these conversations and relationships change over time. How do you keep being a family? And we hear from other people on the outside and others inside figuring

out what to say and what to keep secret. Stay with us. It's this American life act one. I'm fine. Don't worry. Within any family, there's the group chat and there's the side chat. The person Yousef is always checking in with most is his youngest sister in Gaza, a seal. June 2024. Yousef to Aal. Yo, my sister, please confirm you're well. A seal, I feel like I haven't seen you since the last century. The thing Yousef says more than anything else in these chats is, "Please confirm you're well." The thing Ail says most, "I'm fine. Don't worry." Ysef says Aile is the one in the family who's the most like him. Practical, can do, unfazed, also stubborn. Aile is 10 years younger than Yousef. She's a nurse. She wants to know things and do things. He's young, but he's expert. Usually, a seal is the most between my sister, I look I look to a seal as the most wise. She looks to him the same way. She trusts him. When a

seal was trying to figure out the safest place to give birth to her first child in a war zone, the person she planned it out with was Yousef. When she needs advice on anything, Yousef. In the beginning of their WhatsApp chat after he left Gaza, you can see Yousef trying to set the terms of their new situation. His point over and over, the important things have not changed. I'll call every day. Anything you need, I'm here. Yousef, if you want anything, whatever it is, do not hesitate. A seal jokes. After all, everything is cheap.

Yousef, live and spend. A seal, my dear brother, I swear I want nothing but to see you. I swear I don't need anything. Yousef, this is my duty, my sister. Just take care of yourself. A seal responds with a voice memo. Her and her baby

Sila. 24 hours later, Ysef, seemingly concerned that he didn't get his point across, writes, "The most important thing is that you do not lack anything. Buy whatever you want. Relationships shift all the time, sometimes suddenly, but the long, slow changes, they can be just as dramatic. Yousef and seal lived within walking distance their whole lives. They saw each other in person all the time. They shared life, a landscape. And right away, within a week of leaving Gaza, Ysef realized how much information he gathered just by being there, seeing a seal face to face, seeing what she needed. When he wasn't there, he understood, oh, a seal isn't great at asking for things. It It's something I really like it about her, how decent she is, and she will never ask anything. But at the same time, that's I'm not there to understand the need anymore. And my other sister called me. She he she lost her phone and she's like, "Okay, buy me

a phone. Send it to anyone to Yeah. Okay, father. I'll do it." And he would never do that. And that's my issue with her. So every time a seal says, "I'm fine." Yousef has to guess what he can do to help. Four months after he left Gaza, Ysef was reading and hearing about bombing. Increasingly, the bombing was where she was living. The other sisters were moving. Yousef figured Aal would too and made a plan for her to move to a safer area called Al- Moasi, just like he always did. He would pay for it, of course. Yousef to Ail, there's a furnished apartment in this project.

1,000 per month. A seal. Oh my god, it's a lot. I don't know if the war will go on longer or not. The amount of money is a lot. Yousef, call her. You will love it. The next day, Yousef, have you seen the apartment? It's a good place. A seal. It's forbidden to be extravagant. I didn't go. No. 4 hours later. A seal. It's really nice, honestly, but it's expensive. Yousef, is it a suitable place? Double question mark. A seal. I'm fine now. If there's an evacuation, I will leave. She did not move to the apartment. Money was becoming an issue between them in a new way.

Ysef had always supported a lot of people in the family, but after he left Gaza, he started doing it through a seal. She'd tell Ysef, "Who among their family and friends in Gaza needed help? Here's how much. Here's a list." He'd coordinate with her to get the money to them. A seal to Ysef, everyone thinks I'm the finance ministry. Yousef, let them think that. This meant now Ail knew how much money Ysef was giving out, how many people he was supporting in Gaza, not to mention trying to find a place for his family on the outside. A seal didn't want to add to the burden. A seal, don't worry about me, love. You're going to have travel expenses and expenses that will destroy even mountains. Don't send me money until you guys get settled and organize your matters. Yousef, don't worry. Your brother is strong as a whale.

As the months passed, Aile continued to lean on Yousef for some things, but she also quietly started trying to manage more things on her own. In August, a few months after Ysef left, Aile's baby was suffering from a terrible rash. She couldn't figure out how to treat it. She couldn't find the cream she needed. A seal sent me pictures to see if I had any ideas, but she didn't tell Yousef, even though Ysef knows all sorts of medical people in Gaza. No, but it's just one thing that I'm hiding. Now, there's a new disease that has spread targeting children, which is um I don't know, an allergy. It's a skin rash or something like that.

So, I don't know how to treat her, and every time I use something, it spreads even more. Why wouldn't you tell him about the skin problem? Because he would be upset. In reality, they're not here. So, he won't know what to do. He'll feel like it's his dereliction or of duty, like he could have done something. I don't want him to feel that way. But couldn't Yousef help you get access to the medicine? Oh, yes. But he'll send his friends to look. And in reality, I looked a lot and I couldn't find anything. So, I don't know what the solution is. I don't want them to be worried over there because I can solve this. As long as I can solve this, there's no need to let them worry and no need to tell them.

Keeping things from each other. This became a bigger part of their relationship. Yousef was traveling around Egypt, England, trying to get asylum somewhere in the world. He told Aille about some of it, and he edited out stuff that would be too sharp a contrast to a seal's life. He'd share a selfie from the train, but he would not tell her about taking the kids to see the pyramids, the Nile. He'd gleefully tell her he's near where David Beckham lives, but he wouldn't mention the restaurant he went to that day. A seal knew he was keeping stuff from her. And in the text, she's constantly nudging him to send her pictures and updates.

And when he does share something, she responds quickly with hearts and says things like, "I am happy just seeing your pictures. It's amazing, bro." Yousef sends a picture of himself on a bike in London. A seal. Wow. Smiley face. It's amazing. And an athlete. Smiley face heart. Another time. A selfie of Yousef in Cairo. A seal. Advice for you. Smiley face heart. This haircut looks good on you. A seal had pushed Ysef to leave Gaza. She considered going with him, but the cost was enormous, more than Yousef could cover, and she didn't want to leave her in-laws and extended family behind in Gaza. She's genuinely very happy for Yousef. But there's also a new unfamiliar feeling. Whenever something happens that upsets me, I blame him for not being here. I don't say that to him, but internally, I blame him. You were not supposed to leave. You were supposed to stay here. It's It's like a psychological war between me and myself.

Yousef knows it without her saying it because he feels it too. You I I I I always I keep saying I I should have taken my sisters out with me. I shouldn't listen to any objection despite that they couldn't do it. They have their children. They have I should have tried more. At least I I was How often are you thinking about that, Yousef? Whenever I have a call with any of them. Every time you talk to them, whenever something happened, the first thing it came to my head, I should have taken everyone. One of the reasons Aal didn't leave Gaza with Yousef is she thought the war would end soon. Another reason, she wanted to go home to the north where her house is in Jibalia. She wanted to raise her daughter at home. She thought about it every day. She was waiting and waiting for the Israeli military to allow residents of the north to return.

These months and months of text messages really convey just how long she was stuck. You can see a seal getting ground down over time. There's no electricity, no clean water. She keeps getting sick. There's bombings and drones and just uncertainty. Endless uncertainty. September 2024. A seal. Oh my god, we are tired. I wish I had listened to you and gone with you. October. A seal. Officially, I swear to God that I cannot bear the situation at all. November. A seal. Sila has malnutrition. Yousef. Oh my god. What did the doctor tell you? A seal. She told me she has malnutrition and she's very underweight and needs vitamins. I don't know what to feed her. I didn't feed her canned food because I was afraid she'd get sick. Today is the first time I regret giving birth.

Yousef, may God help you, sister. January 2025. Voice memo from a seal to the group chat. Happy New Year. Oh, I forgot to say happy new year. I hope that next year, no, no, this year. Yes, this year we see you all. I hope you'll be looking forward to seeing us and we'll be looking forward to seeing you and happy new year. That's it. Then January 15th, some news. Hamash family group chat. A seal. The president of Qatar wants to announce a ceasefire soon. Oh god. Get excited guys. The war is over. It's a truce. It's a truce.

It's over. Oh god. A truce. Thank God. The moment Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire last January, Aile began planning her return to the north to her house. It was time, the thing she'd been waiting for. But Ysef was against it. Yousef to a seal. In my opinion, sister, you should stay where you are. It's early, my sister, and I hear strange things in the north. A seal, but I'm tired. How long will we continue like this? Yousef, one by one, everything will be solved. A seal. But man, the house is important. Yousef, leave it to me. The war just stopped yesterday. Their other sisters were fine to wait and see. But Aile kept pressing to go north. Yousef had access to satellite images, and his assessment was if a seal went north, she'd find that she had no house anymore. I don't think any house in that area is still standing. I'm trying not to be negative with everyone's like, "No, everything is

led." But I know it's not there. So you know for sure the area where they live, it's not far from Kamal Edwan Hospital in the northern part of Gaza. And then recently this military campaign was mainly in that area and all of that area was lied. And honestly, for the northern part of Gaza, where I am from and all my relatives, it's impossible that anyhow still standing there. Ysef and Ail's texts about this went on for weeks. Their back and forth reads like Ysef is still that older brother who's in control, but one of the things Ail is not telling him.

She and her husband Ahmed have already begun moving their things north. Ysef thinks he's still in a position to grant permission. A seal tells him it's already done. Yousef to Aal, you can go for 2 days and try it, but try not to move your things. A seal. Ahmed transferred 90% of them. Smiley face. She was already there. I came back because I know I belong to this place. I wanted to come back. I want to fix up my place and live in it. I want to have my inner calm back. Is there anything there? The house was blown out and there were no walls. There were only the support pillars, the ceiling and the floors.

That's what was left. So, I had to make a wall out of tarp. I covered the entire house with tarp and I'm trying to adopt. What is around you? Are there buildings? And is there anything there? Uh, I still have a bit of a roof over my head, but my neighbors next door set up a tent on top of the rubble of their house. And it's the same with the neighbors all the way down the street. Those whose houses are still standing, they fix them and they live in them now. Others set up tents on the rubble of their homes. What did Yousef think of you moving back to Jabalia?

Yousef didn't know I was moving back. He only knew I was coming to check on the place and belongings and then go back south. But then I moved back and let him deal with my decision. I shocked him with that. He didn't approve of me going back north. Okay. And what did he say when he found out you were staying? He told me to wait a bit, take more time, be careful with my decision. And I told him, "No, I'm going to stay for a bit. I feel that I belong to this place and I need to stay here. Ysef saw that AIL was not alone in this decision. As soon as people were allowed back, 376,000 Palestinians returned to their homes in the north. And they returned to places with no roads or schools or hospitals or clean water and to homes that were damaged and destroyed. But they still went back. After weeks of pushing back, Ysef got it. It was easy to urge patients from the outside, but it was hard in the

south, where they had been forced to live for more than a year. Towns in the south were overwhelmed by displaced people from the north. There was tension between people from the north and south. There was months and months of displacement. People were tired, degraded. It was better to be in a tent where your home was than in a tent in Rafa or Hanunas. Now that she was home, Ail began trying to live, not just survive. Her husband, Ahmed, set up a solar panel and started a phone charging station, a small business. A seal found a job with an NGO doing data entry. Yousef hadn't wanted her to work, that going outside was unsafe. But Aile wanted to have money of her own. Ysef told me despite his objections, he was proud seeing what a seal had created. For two months, the ceasefire held. March 18th, Hamash family group chat. The war is back. Damn. God is sufficient for me, and he is the best disposer of affairs. 2:39 a.m. Yousef

writes, "Call a seal. I can't get through." 7 hours later, a seal, "I'm fine. Don't worry." Now that she was back north and the war was back on, all the little ways a seal had been gathering herself over the last year, making her own decisions, working for her own money, relying mostly on herself, became essential for her survival. It's like she anticipated a time when, even with love and support from the outside, she was going to need to be entirely self-sufficient. That time was now. When Israel violated the ceasefire in March, it launched one of the deadliest days of the war. 400 people killed in a single day in the north and also throughout the Gaza Strip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this is only the beginning. Israel barred all food, aid, and any other supplies from coming into the territory. A complete ban that would end up lasting more than 2 months. What are you eating?

Uh hello. Uh what's available is rice, lentils um tuna, sardines, and other canned food. For food, there's no flour. I ran out of flour a while ago. The flour in the market was not good for consumption because it was mixed with plaster by the sellers. May God guide them. There's a bombed house uh next to us and there was flower under the rubble. You you dug through the rubble of your neighbor's house. Yes, that's correct. We were confident there was flour because our neighbor told us there was flour in his home. He also told us that if we could get it, we should eat it.

Wow. We collaborated with the neighbors and got it out. I don't know if you can imagine it, but it it used to be a five-story building and now it's only half a story. The whole situation was like a drowning person who's clutching at a straw. We all hoped that we could get the flower out. They didn't get all of it out. I think they got about two bags and everyone ended up with a small bag. We took some of the flour and sifted it twice and ate it. There was sand and plaster in it, but we made it work.

The flower lasted 2 days. A seal stopped working. She tried not to go out more than she needed to. There were evacuation orders for areas in the north in April, again in May, but also orders in the south and some in the middle area of Gaza, and threats of a new Israeli ground invasion in the north and bombs. A seal was coming back from visiting an injured relative in the hospital. She was almost home and there was an explosion right where the car was going to drop her off. This was 2 weeks ago. I couldn't understand what was happening. I didn't know where to go.

Suddenly, children appeared and they were covered in blood. People were running carrying martyrs. It was very bizarre to be honest. They were carrying the martyr on a donkey cart, but there was no donkey. People were pulling it. And I said to myself, look at what we've become. What brought us to this life. I don't want to evacuate. I don't want to leave. I feel comfortable where I am. And if I left, I'd be anxious all the time. It's better for me to stay in my house and maintain my dignity. And that's it. How long will you stay there? I don't want to leave, but if they bombed somewhere near me, that's when I would leave. Didn't that happen today? They bombed somewhere close to where you are.

I meant something closer. Today's bombing was close, but there was still a street between us. So, they would have to bomb the street you are living on for you to leave? No. God forbid. No. No. Are your sisters or Yousef or other people trying to convince you to leave? Yes. He wasn't convinced, but I'm doing what I want. What's in the news is not like what's on the ground. They exaggerate in the news. I tell them the situation where I live still allows me to wait a bit longer in my house. They should listen to me and be patient. Did you tell Yousef you were going? Will you tell him about what happened today?

Not yet. Not yet. I will tell him. He'd be pretty mad. Most probably he won't be happy that I got out during this dangerous situation. He would tell me to not leave home in the first place or to go stay with my sisters. I've been telling him since yesterday that the situation where I am is good. You can see in the chat when does tell him and she's right. He pleads with her to leave to go to her sisters who are sheltering in Gaza City, but she doesn't want to leave. In her home, she managed to collect bedding, some furniture, a small generator, toys for the baby. The beginnings of something livable. If they leave, everything could be gone when they get back. And as Seal tells Yousef, nowhere is

safe. May 15th, 2:25 p.m. A seal. I'm fine, my love. Don't worry. Yousef, God is sufficient for us and he is the best disposer of affairs. My sister by midnight that night more bombs. Hamash family group chat. Can someone check on a seal? Banal Yousef is talking to her. Yeah, I don't know. She was refusing to leave yesterday and then became night. Then okay, it wasn't safe to move. So I said, "Okay, let's see until tomorrow." Then in in in the night everything changed. 1:39 a.m. Yousef, please confirm you're well. Ail, thank God for everything. We were chatting, texting each other. 1:59 a.m. Yousef, may God keep you safe, my dear. Ail, thank God. I'm fine. Don't worry. Last message at 2:00 a.m.

inshallah, everything's fine and we'll meet soon. like you know changing nice messages. Then at 3:15 she text me, I cannot breathe. I cannot see anything. And she sent this video. In the video, the camera is pointed at what looks like a pile of rubble, but it's hard to see because it's dark and they're surrounded by a cloud of dust and debris. In the upper corner of the video, there's a piece of drywall, maybe a fallen ceiling. A seal is saying, "I can't see a thing." Calling for her husband, Ahmed. Someone says, "Ahmed is there. He's there." Ail says, "I hope they don't bomb again." Ahmed. Ahmed.

And then I panic and it keep calling. No phone calls. waking up trying to call there or call Allah Allah so we can call her husband. She's texted 38 a.m. Uh they bombed the house next to my house. It's full of dead bodies. Most of the house collapsed. Everything collapsed on us. Pray for us. And she asked, "Pray for us that this night pass." And then she didn't respond. Yeah. I got messages from a sale that night, too. She wrote, "I hope to stay alive until the morning. This is the hardest night since the beginning of the war. I'm so scared." And she wrote, "I feel like I won't meet my family again." Did she sound different to you than she has sounded at other scary moments?

Yeah. It's this not the first time that they go through this. this they go through it a lot and she never reach out when she know that nothing I can do I'm outside especially at 3:00 a.m. Mhm. That's quite serious. She always tried to spare me when this is it was serious. She's not just scared. She was about to die. It took 11 hours before he heard anything. His other sister, Heba, finally got through to a seal. They'd survived. Heba was hiring an ambulance to try to get a seal out. She wasn't injured. It was just the only way the family could figure out how to get to her. She's moving to Gaza City. Yeah.

Well one second. So, my my sister Hiba is texting me now saying that was it was very hard to send the ambulance and he just agreed. Hamash family group chat. Yousef to the group. A seal has arrived at the girl's house. Are you asking or telling? Yousef. I'm telling you. Upside down face. Thank God she's safe. Thank God. May God keep them safe and well. God willing. And then 5:51 p.m. A seal shows back up in the chat. A seal. I'm fine, guys, but I'm devastated. I got a text, too. I'm fine, she said, but my psyche is broken. A seal has not gone back since. 19 months is a long time. Long enough to move four times, to create a home out of nothing. to start a new business. Long enough for AIL to be pregnant, to deliver her first baby, and for that baby to learn to roll over, crawl, and walk. Long enough to feel certain that this cannot possibly go on any longer. The day after this terrible night, Aile sent me one more text. I'm

pregnant. I don't know if I should be worried or upset or happy. I don't know what to feel. When a seal and Yousef shared their messages, I started reading from the beginning and didn't stop for hours and hours until I was finished. Hundreds of pages and photos and videos later. After I was done, I kept scrolling back up to the beginning to how the story starts. Two years ago, a family planning a day at the beach. Make a cinnamon roll, Heba, and arrange it here. Heba, I'm scared you'll ruin the cinnamon roll. You're good at baking cake. Bake a cake. Hadil cinnamon roll is tasty. I'll make a cake and you won't eat it. Who told you we won't eat it?

Okay, I'll make you a cake. Ail, do you want to bring the nuts? Bring the seeds and nuts. A seal, shall I make you a crepe? No. A seal, shall I make you some pastries? Come on, Ail. Manal and I will work with you. Do you know how to make a cinnamon roll? It felt like a shock being in the presence of a family in this way. In the benality of a moment, I understood, oh, this is what this family was. This is what was destroyed.

Coming up, a refresher. How many pounds are in a kilo again? 2.2 lb and other memorable measurements. That's in a minute from Chicago Public Radio when our program continues. It's This American Life. I'm Kana Jaffy Walt sitting in for Ira Glass. Today's show, Group Chat. We're hearing from Palestinians living outside the West Bank and Gaza, checking in with people there. We've arrived at act two of our program, Act Two, week 11. Muhammad Mahawish left Gaza a year ago, around the same time as Yousef, just before the border closed. Muhammad's a reporter. He's lived in Gaza his whole life, and he spent the last year since he left, continuing to report and talk to people back home. Some are people he knows, others he finds through his reporting. He's been trying to document each phase of the current war. Last fall, the messages and voice memos Muhammad was getting from people in Gaza were about evacuations or about people

figuring out where to move to be safe. In November and December, the messages were about the cold. Winter was coming. Now they've turned to food. Israel has imposed restrictions on food and supplies entering Gaza throughout the war. In March, they began a total blockade. No food was allowed in for 11 weeks. Israel said it was to pressure Hamas to release hostages. Now, just this week, Israel is allowing a trickle of food, but it's doing so through a brand new privatelyun system that's backed by Israel and the US. This new system now has only three food distribution sites running. There used to be hundreds. A UN official has said the new system quote cannot possibly meet Gaza's needs. The upshot as of the moment I'm saying this is there's still not enough food inside Gaza, especially in the north. Muhammad has been talking to people there. Here he is. A few weeks ago, I got a phone call from my friend Abdulhakeim Abu

Aayas. He's in Gaza in the north. He said, "I can't explain the pain in my stomach, in my bones, in my head." I knew exactly what he meant. Right before I left Gaza a year ago, I was in the north of the strip. There was a blockade then as well, no food or supplies. My son and I were both diagnosed with acute malnutrition. Now, it's not just the north. All of Gaza is hungry. When I call people there now, all I hear are stories of hunger, the quiet and desperate tricks that people have come up with to survive. A father living in my old neighborhood, a garage, told me his family of five shared a single Snickers bar for lunch. We slice it like cake, he said. We make it a moment.

I talked to a son in charge of searching for food for his whole family who told me, "We boil herbs to trick our bodies into thinking we're full. We feed the children first, then wait to see if there is anything left. Most nights there isn't." Now, I'm talking a lot to another person in the north, who does cake. She's 20 years old. A few months ago, she messaged me out of the blue. She said she wanted to be a journalist, asked me for advice on how to pitch to news outlets. These days, I messaged her for updates. I called her on week 11 of the blockade. Week 11 of no food going into Gaza. We don't just talk about food. She has ambitions. I asked which journalists from Gaza she'd been reading lately. So I read for um for him reports and also I read for Ahmedi if you know him. Of course you know him. So you're not reading my work. Okay. Thank you.

Of course. No I swear I swear I for you. Sorry. I I wrote some vocabularies and I will uh send you some photos after finishing this interview to show you that I'm I'm reading to you. She did. Huda is a very serious student. She's studying English literature online through the Islamic University of Gaza. First in her class, she told me studying brings her peace. It was nighttime in Gaza when we talked, 9 hours since she'd last eaten. And I bought a bottle of water um here next to me. Every time I feel like uh hangry, I I drink some and then I feel like oh I'm full and I'm I'm I'm I'm intending to drink a lot of water in the coming days in order to uh stay alive.

This is the only way my stomach will uh be full a little bit. This is how I uh make myself patient with hungry. It's exam time right now. Huda has been putting her headphones on and studying late into the night. I was astonished by Huda's ability to stay focused. Nighttime is terrifying in Gaza. All we could hear was explosions and the sound of drones getting closer, but Huda just studies through it. So, when all of my uh siblings and my parents uh falling asleep, I study. So, when I get uh hungry sometimes at night, you know what I do? Uh I go to the kitchen and I eat a spoon of zat. So we have a jar of z. Okay. So in order to not make my mom notice that I am eating from it, I go to the kitchen. So you sneak abide in silence so that no one exactly. Thank god that my parents don't know English. Okay.

And sometimes I feel like I am guilty because it's for my siblings in the morning and oh my god but I want to satisfy my hunger and I'm studying and I want to focus and then I after eating those uh two spoons I I drink uh like one or two cups of water. Mhm. in order to to feel like I I had a dinner. You know, I yearn for eating cheese. Before the war, Huda was the kind of person who liked to take pictures of what she was eating, especially when she made it. These days, when she gets hungry, she scrolls through those pictures. She said it helps her feel full just looking at them. She told me about a photo of Mcloba from 2022. a screenshot of a burger ad. She told me she zooms in and pretends she's picking the crispy bits off the chicken. I wanted to to um have an idea if you've ever been to the market lately um and what kinds of things that are still being sold.

Okay, so most of the market shelves are are really uh scarce and are empty. Can see some canned food or even lentils, um rice, soup, uh pasta. These are the items that are currently uh available, but in a very very very um uh expensive prices, like almost $11 for a candy bar. A year ago, prices were high, but not this high. People still had stored food. There were still some farms. The market I used to shop at still had stock. There was snacks and there was green leaves, uh, some vegetables, um, some green vegetables. Yeah. That are not available now. I I hope they was available so I can make myself busy with them while studying. There was also there was also some coffee. There was also some tea.

There was um some sugar that we could we would use sometimes like with we could we can sweeten some water with sugar and we can drink and so it could have some sort of a feeling of a sweet thing that could be enough for the body to feel full at some point somehow. Uh sugar is is it available? H how much does it cost to get 1 kilo of sugar? Um, let me ask my brother how does it cost? Uh, $30 one. For one kilo. Oh my gosh. A kilo is a little over two pounds. Before the war, a kilo of sugar cost about 25 cents. 30 cents on the high end. When I was still in Gaza, a kilo of sugar was already outrageous, $16. And it was already hard to find.

Now there is almost nothing. Farmland has been wiped out. Green houses turned to ash. It's not just the food that's gone. There is no fuel to cook what little might be left. Rice, lentils. There is no fuel to even boil water. There isn't any burning wood around you, right? Yeah. Uh there is no wood right now. We we sometimes bought bought some plastics you know or nylon or whatever we find you know in the street in order to uh fuel the fire. Yeah. When I study I have my uh notebooks which are really close to my heart and I can't uh let them uh burn give them up. Yeah. Yeah. But um I have another papers. These are for my mom when she burn uh when she burns the the for the when she cooks. Yeah.

We burn some of my of our clothes. Um and it's something like you when when we burn these things, you know, I feel like we are burning some of our memories. um a huge number a huge amount of our memories. I dreamed of my my cousin that was killed in the first beginning of the war just two days ago. She was telling me that uh she was missing me and that uh she wants me to eat some food. She she tells me that she feels like I am hungry. She uh she was cooking for me something that uh I love which is the pasta but in a very in a very delicious way. She made it in the dream and then when I wake and I when I woke up I felt like I am full.

I felt like um I I don't want to eat you know. Uh, it's really something um indescribable and I I felt so sad when I saw her and I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for your loss. I'm so sorry. Yeah, it um I started telling my friends that uh pray to have a dream like this, you know. It's it's really so bad. Oh. Oh my god. I remember the way hunger settled into my body, not just as pain, but as a kind of silence. When I stood up, the room spun. My mouth tasted like metal. My limbs felt heavy, like I was waiting through water. I stopped feeling hunger as a craving. It became something else, a slow shutting down.

I I have never ever expected to reach to such level to seek food to think of food to only just want to I just want to eat food and I I feel like people are going are going insane. We could lose our minds if we didn't have food uh immediately. When I first talked to Huda, I could tell she was ambitious. She talked about wanting to be a teacher. She dreamt of getting her master's degree abroad. But just before we talked, she had started to rethink that plan because she doesn't want to leave Gaza behind. The Israelis are trying to erase all the traces of Palestinians and uprooted them and they are trying to put the idea of uh traveling and to get out of Gaza. that we will not we will always stay in our home. And uh sometimes I feel like how does the wall outside Gaza feel? Mhm.

How is the walls you know um behind the the crusade? Like how did you feel when you get on a bl a plane? Um can you tell me I was surprised by Huda's question and I had trouble answering it. It slammed me back to the moment as I was crossing into Egypt. No drones, no sounds of war. People were just living only 30 minutes away from Gaza. Sipping sodas, grilling on the street, kids heading to school, others coming back from college. The world outside Gaza, it's an overwhelming mix of things. My mouth is incapable of what it wants to speak. I think it's good for us to be in other parts of the world to share what is happening back home. But to do that, I had to leave everything behind knowing I may never go back. My home is out of reach.

This is kind of breaking my heart. Huda texted me after our call and surprised me with another question. She asked what I had for breakfast. I lied. I said coffee and toast. These two things are still available somewhere in Gaza. I did not tell her I had one egg, a cookie, and a cup of tea.

Muhammad Mahawish is a journalist and writer from Gaza. Diane Wu produced this story. You can find more of Muhammad's reporting in Al Jazzer and MSNBC. He's also a contributing writer for The Nation, which is where we first read about his experiences with hunger. Hoda's access to food has not changed since Muhammad spoke with her two weeks ago. One last thing before we end today's show. Almost every day someone asks me about a kid we put on the show 6 months ago. Byas. She's in Gaza. The thing people always want to know. How is she doing? This is a question I find very difficult to answer. But here we go. I'm going to try. Beas is still in central Gaza where she's been displaced from the north. She turned nine during the ceasefire in January. She's living in an apartment with a yard. There are long stretches when she can't go outside, when it's not safe enough. When she can go out, there are kids nearby she plays

with. She draws. She pretends to be a naturalist. But yes loves bugs. She does remote school for a few hours each week. She's skinnier. Bya's family has far more resources than most people in Gaza. But still, her parents spend most of the day trying to find food lately or waiting in lines to access an oven where they can cook bread if they have flour. Most days they don't. They eat lentils and rice or lentils and pasta. They're running out of canned food. Her mom told me on a good day they'll also share one fried potato for the family of four.

How is Bess doing? Should be a really simple question. Beas is wonderful. She's charming, endlessly curious, and energetic, and bursting with things to say. She's very funny. And Bey is still incredibly good at creating her own reality. I'm so happy today. I'm really, really, really happy. Yeah. Why? The kids are playing in the backyard and I'm standing here in the balcony. Uhhuh. There is our clothes. Uhhuh. Sometimes it it was loud bumping around us. It That's sometimes Oh, here's one. Yeah, I just heard it. It's not close of us. This is a lemon tree. I want to show you an olive tree.

Do we like to climb? This olive tree is so easy to climb. I just step Oh, I was about to fall. Okay, I'll switch the camera to show you. I'll hold the phone tightly. And you are you climbing the tree right now? And And I'm climbing. Look, this is the olive tree. And I'm here. I'm here. Here am I. Woohoo. I'm the king of the garden. I'm the queen of the garden. Oh, Bas, is it safe there? It is. Say, don't worry about us. But there's some shooting around us. Yeah, I can hear it. So So don't go to hide places. I'll just get down. Yeah, maybe come down so I I doesn't get to it.

Yeah. Do you Maybe you should go back inside. No, it's okay. It's a It's a It's far away from us. It sounds close. If you're scared, we can um We can go inside. Yeah. Why don't we go inside? You You don't You want to go inside? Yeah. All right, let's go. That's how Beyas is doing. Fiercely protecting and inventing a childhood for herself. A childhood that is constrained in every way by shooting and bombing. By a lack of nutrition, education, and safety. That's how she's doing. Oh, person person, we're really missing you. It breaks all of our hearts to know that you just want to come on home. So, come on home. The telephone just doesn't seem to do to let you know how much it's true that we love you. Yeah, we love you. Oh, person.

Our show today was produced by Lily Sullivan. Nancy Updike edited the show. The people who put our show together include Michael Kamaye, Angela Jervassi, Ira Glass, Cassie Howley, Valerie Kipniss, Seth Lind, Miky Meek, Katherine Rayondo, Stone Nelson, Nadia Raymond, Anthony Roman, Alyssa Ship, Christopher Satala, and Marica Robertson Texter. Our managing editor is Sarah Abdul Rahman. our senior editors, David Castenbomb, Emanuel Barry is our executive editor. Special thanks today to Hannie Hassley, Laura Albbast, Rana Mustafa, Dana Belalute, Rachel Stum, Emnes Gal, Lizzie Ratner, and Suzanne Gabber. Thanks also to KCRW in Los Angeles where I've been recording this week and have had help from Katie Gilchrist, Phil Richards, Mike Stark, and Mike Newport. Voice over for Ail in act one was performed by Tara Aboud. our website thisamericanlife.org. If you become a This American Life partner, you'll get

bonus content, adree listening, and more. To join, go to thisamericanlife.org/life partners. That link is also in the show notes. This American Life is delivered to public radio stations by PRX, the public radio exchange. I'm Kana Jaffy Walt. Ira Glass will be back next week with more stories of this American life. Person of God, personal home.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Group Chat | This American Life | Episode 861"?

Hana Jaffy Walt (Host), Yousef Hamash (Guest), Aseel (Guest), Muhammad Mahawish (Guest).

What is "Group Chat | This American Life | Episode 861" about?

The narrative revolves around Yousef Hamash, who created a family group chat to coordinate logistics and communication amidst the chaos of war in Gaza. Following Hamas's attack on October 7th, Yousef becomes the central figure in relocating his extended family to safety, navigating a harrowing journey marked by displacement and trauma over six months.

What is mentioned in this This American Life episode?

7 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Yousef Hamash, Hana Jaffy Walt, This American Life, Muhammad Mahawish, Hamas, Al- Moasi. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Group Chat | This American Life | Episode 861"?

The episode runs 60 min; the transcript is about 8,703 words in 65 timestamped sections.

More from This American Life

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.