Above: After receiving an Israeli evacuation order, Palestinians leave al-Bureij refugee camp for Deir al-Balah, Gaza, 22 December 2023. (Omar Ashtawy \/ APA Images)<\/p>\n
For three days in a row we haven\u2019t had water, electricity, internet or cellphone\u00a0service.<\/p>\n
We knew that the communications blackout could only mean one thing: more Israeli attacks were imminent, more Palestinians would be\u00a0massacred.<\/p>\n
We gathered around the radio, waiting for any updates. I can\u2019t imagine how we would get any news without the\u00a0radio.<\/p>\n
My father was most concerned about my sister in Gaza\u2019s southernmost city Rafah. My mother, meanwhile, was worried about her siblings in al-Zaytoun neighborhood in northern\u00a0Gaza.<\/p>\n
We pay attention to the radio broadcasts and to the names of those whom Israel has killed. We wait to hear if we know someone who has been\u00a0killed.<\/p>\n
A report from a journalist based at al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital said that he receives many queries each day from concerned families about their relatives\u2019\u00a0well-being.<\/p>\n
Heavy rains have made living hard. Tents are flooded and people shiver in the\u00a0cold.<\/p>\n
My sister-in-law was crying because her family\u2019s tent, made of plywood and plastic, collapsed due to the\u00a0rain.<\/p>\n
That tent was sheltering 60 people in the al-Mawasi area of\u00a0Gaza.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve heard a lot of news on the radio this past week, and all of it is\u00a0dire.<\/p>\n
Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa<\/a> was killed by an Israeli drone strike in Khan Younis on 15\u00a0December.<\/p>\n He had been at the Farhana school, where civilians were taking shelter, when Israel fired missiles at the school. Rescue teams couldn\u2019t reach him at first but managed to retrieve his\u00a0body.<\/p>\n The scope of Israel\u2019s violations of international law are multifold: targeting a school, journalists, civilians, all in\u00a0one.<\/p>\n Israel continues to target hospitals, like the Kamal Adwan hospital<\/a> in Beit Lahiya, northern\u00a0Gaza.<\/p>\n After an Israeli raid<\/a> on 17 December, the hospital was rendered\u00a0non-operational.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, a fourth massacre unfolded in Jabaliya refugee camp on 19 December, with Israel bombing<\/a> a charity building. It\u2019s estimated that at least 90 people<\/a> died in Israeli airstrikes on Jabaliya, and so many more Palestinians are likely buried under the rubble, dead or\u00a0dying.<\/p>\n Firefighters faced insurmountable difficulties due to the lack of team members, vehicles and adequate\u00a0equipment.<\/p>\n One man on the radio mentioned that he had seen Israel forcing people to hold weapons in front of cameras, to create the \u201cfalse perception\u201d that they were\u00a0fighters.<\/p>\n I also heard that three Israeli hostages died, and that Israelis were\u00a0upset.<\/p>\n Israeli bombardments targeted houses in Deir al-Balah, in\u00a0Rafah.<\/p>\n Humanitarian aid is\u00a0lacking.<\/p>\n Israeli snipers are stationed in various buildings throughout al-Wihda street in Gaza City, and they are targeting water tanks on\u00a0roofs.<\/p>\n From all the news that I hear, I understand that Israel is trying to eliminate all of us in\u00a0Gaza.<\/p>\n When I get access to the internet, I\u2019ll read more about what I\u2019ve only heard on the radio. Until then, we are disconnected from the world, and Israeli forces are killing journalists, the ones who keep us\u00a0connected.<\/p>\n