SHOTLIST:

GAZA STRIP, PALESTINE (JAN. 12, 2026) (ANADOLU – ACCESS ALL)

1. VARIOUS OF PALESTINIAN TEACHER SAID KHALIL AZZAM AT HIS TEMPORARY SHELTER

2. PALESTINIAN TEACHER AZZAM MOVING FROM HIS LIVING AREA INTO HIS WHEELCHAIR

3. VARIOUS OF AZZAM READING AND REVIEWING BOOKS

4. VARIOUS OF AZZAM TEACHING CHILDREN AT CAMP

5. PALESTINIAN TEACHER AZZAM MOVING AROUND IN HIS WHEELCHAIR

6. PALESTINIAN TEACHER AZZAM VISITING HIS FORMER SCHOOL

7. (SOUNDBITE) (English) PALESTINIAN TEACHER, SAID KHALIL AZZAM SAYING:

“I am Said Khalil Azzam from Al-Bureij Camp. I am 33 years old. I was working as a teacher at a school. At the beginning of the war, I went to a friend’s place to charge my phone or my laptop so I could prepare lessons for my students, because the education process had stopped. Suddenly, the place where I was staying was targeted.

After the attack, I only regained consciousness eight days later in the hospital. When I woke up, I discovered that both of my legs had been amputated and that I had a fracture in my hand. I felt that a big part of my life had been taken away from me. I lost my ability to move. Going to work, moving around, even going to the bathroom became very difficult. This caused me a lot of pain.

Teaching has always been very important in my life. Since I was young, I loved teaching and education. Teaching was not just a job for me. It was something very special in my life. My dream was to be a teacher, to teach students and pass education on to them. But after the injury I suffered during the war, I found that there are many difficulties in continuing this profession. Being a teacher requires moving a lot in the classroom, standing for long periods and writing on the board. This injury has made it very difficult for me to move and to practice this profession properly.

During the war, I tried to spend my time studying. I read books that I studied at university, books that help me keep my professional knowledge as a teacher. I try to occupy my time with useful things, which helps ease the burden of what I am going through. Sometimes I meet and talk with friends, and sometimes I go to the school where I used to work, even though it was destroyed. When I go there, I remember my old days as a teacher, my students, my colleagues and the school administration. These memories make me feel that I am still here.

I do not see this injury as an obstacle to continuing my life. Allah gave me life and I survived. I hope to find a solution to this situation, to return to that place again and to resume my work in education.” GAZA STRIP, PALESTINE - JAN. 12: A Palestinian teacher who lost both legs in an Israeli attack is hoping to return to education after sustaining life-changing injuries in Gaza.

Thirty-three-year-old Said Khalil Azzam, who lives in Al-Bureij Camp in Gaza Strip, Palestine, was preparing lessons for his students when the place where he was staying was hit during an Israeli strike.

He regained consciousness eight days later in hospital and then learned the extent of his injuries.

“I woke up eight days later in hospital and learned that both of my legs had been amputated,” Azzam recalled.

“I felt that a big part of my life had been taken away from me,” he added.

Teaching, which he described as his lifelong goal and a central part of his identity, became difficult to continue after the injury due to the physical demands of classroom work.

“Teaching was my dream since childhood,” he noted.

Despite his condition, Azzam remains connected to education by reading books and maintaining his professional skills. He also occasionally visits the school where he previously worked, despite the damage to the building.

“When I go there, I remember my students and my days as a teacher. It makes me feel that I am still here,” he explained.

He expressed hope that he would receive medical treatment and prosthetic legs and be able to return to teaching in the future.

Israel has killed more than 71,000 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 170,000 others in Gaza since October 2023.