‘I’ve lost contact’: Surviving Israeli bombs amid communications blackout
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Try and fathom Gaza’s reality: complete darkness, ceaseless bombing, isolation from our relatives and friends.
Maghazi, Gaza Strip — It was about six o’clock in the evening last Friday when all of Gaza lost contact with the outside world and with each other within the besieged enclave.
My family, along with my uncle’s family, were gathered in a single room at his house in the Maghazi camp. We had evacuated our home in the western part and moved to southern Gaza as per Israeli orders. Israel, of course, claims its orders for us to leave are for our safety, but as a survivor of its barbaric aggression on Gaza, I can tell you that the pretence of relative safety in south Gaza is a myth.
The reason we gather in a single room is simple: if we are subjected to bombings and, God forbid, we lose our lives, we do so together. None of us wishes for the other to endure the pain of sorrow alone.
As is my routine, I reached for my laptop that evening to make sure its battery was charged to the fullest extent possible, enabling me to carry on with my work as a journalist. Just moments before, I was engaged in a conversation with a Canadian journalist, discussing the dire circumstances in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, my father was on the phone with my brother Adham, who resides in the United States, trying to reassure him about our safety.
In the same room, my cousin Reem diligently reads the news she follows on Telegram, providing us with updates on the locations that have come under attack in and around the Gaza Strip, so we reach out to our loved ones residing in those areas.
In another corner, my younger brother, who is just 13 years old, is playing with my cousin’s son, Hammoud, who will be turning two next month.
Then, abruptly, my internet connection dropped, and I asked in a shaky voice, “Is there an issue with the internet?” At the very same moment, my father said, “I’ve lost contact with Adham,” and my uncle added, “I have no phone signal whatsoever!”
We were left with only the radio as our means of communication. When we switched on the radio and heard the announcer from Al Jazeera radio reporting that Israel had severed communications and internet access throughout the Gaza Strip, we were all left in shock and silence. We began to contemplate Israel’s motives behind isolating us from the rest of the world.
Among us, there were those who believed that they aimed to isolate us in order to carry out further crimes away from the scrutiny of the international community. Some even wondered if it might be our final night alive.
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