As you know, the violence continues in Gaza. The bombs continue to kill more people and my family has been hit. Two women, Nahed and her daughter Sammar, were killed outside the Church of the Holy Family where José and I were married. This church has always been a refuge for Christians, and for my family since 7 October. We have to fight hatred, try to find hope and hold on.

Sometimes we can lose our strength, but we are carried by the messages we receive and the testimonies we give. The thoughts of love sent by different people, known and unknown, carry me when I lose the light. This helps me a lot because we’re linked, we’re in contact. For example, during a non-religious ceremony in front of the Human Rights monument, in remembrance of Jacques Hamel, our Mayor of Saint Étienne du Rouvray organised a tribute and a time of meditation for peace and a ceasefire in Palestine-Israel, with all the civilian victims of the massacres in mind.

The love that carries the wounded, the fragile, gives new strength. It makes me think paralytic, carried by his friends and their faith. Prayer is also a way to resist, and that’s important to me.

But I’m human: after the news of the murder of two members of my family, anger overwhelmed me, I shouted, I cried... When I came to my senses, I knew that God is there with suffering and despair, and that he carries us. His love soothes this suffering that he works on in my prayer. I’m convinced of that. He is with them, all of them.

On television, all we see is the destruction of Gaza, with almost no sight of the population, but there are still small gestures of mutual aid and solidarity. For example, a Gazan who, before 7 October, used to publish short online videos of planting and harvesting, now continues to show how to cultivate fraternity. However, everything in his home was destroyed, and he took refuge in a tent a few kilometres away, with his family, in a camp. In the camp, he has started growing vegetables again, which he shares with those living with him. He has even built an oven to bake bread. When I see this man and his actions, it gives me hope. Gaza is still alive!