Communications went dark in Gaza on Friday, but the few voices that emerged described a night of intense airstrikes and panic among a population fearing that the outage signified a new stage in the violence.
The social media platform Snapchat has been used since the war began by some Gazans to post images from their lives, with videos showing people in long queues at bakeries or for water, or gathered in crowds at hospitals and schools.
The platform has had very little content uploaded since Friday night; the few people still using it had access only via sim cards from other countries.
Almaza Owda, a lawyer posting on Snapchat from southern Gaza, wrote a series of posts through the night: “There is no internet for all of Gaza or phone coverage, no messages. They cut us from everything.”
“Gaza is in a very, very, very dangerous condition. It’s so dangerous. We are dying in the streets.”
“The airstrikes are violent and intense. The first time it’s like this. We are in the street and no one is able to contact the emergency services. There are corpses in the street.”
Her posts, which at times read like prayers, were accompanied by grainy photos of the night sky and barely visible surroundings. “Oh Lord, where do we go, oh Lord,” she wrote. “Everyone is in the street and doesn’t know where to go or what will happen.”
Posting a picture of the moon through the clouds, she wrote: “Does it make sense that the light of the moon is the last light I’ll see in my life? Does it make sense that I’m about to die and I’m thirsty?”
In the morning she posted photos of people sheltering at a UN school, cooking on gas stoves on the floor in outdoor living spaces segregated by hanging blankets, saying: “We have returned to 100 years in the past.”
A user named Norma wrote overnight: “No water, no electricity, no lights, no calls and no internet. Unfortunately they’ve cut everything and no place is safe.”
In the morning, she posted as she drove through the deserted streets of Gaza City, showing the rubble of bombed buildings, including the tower where her office was located. She sobbed as she walked through the remains of a dental clinic.
Some international media correspondents were also able to continue broadcasting. Ali Jadallah, a photographer for the Turkey-based Anadolu agency, who lost several members of his family in an airstrike earlier in the conflict, posted photos and videos of heavy explosions. He wrote: “We are disconnected from the internet and calls. There is a complete blackout. Explosions do not stop.”
The BBC’s Rushdi Abualouf was able to get through to the broadcaster on Saturday morning, reporting Israel had cut fibre cables and taken two mobile service providers offline. He described “a state of panic, fear and chaos”.
“I have been driving through the city of Khan Younis this morning. Less people but more panic. People don’t know what to do. They can’t establish communication with their friends, their families … People are extremely worried about what’s going to happen next and if Israeli tanks will start to advance into some parts of Gaza Strip.”
Al Jazeera said its correspondents had been able to provide sporadic updates through satellite communication.
The broadcaster’s Hani Mahmoud, who was in Khan Younis, said: “Medical and civil defence personnel said they could not make it to the targeted areas because of the lack of communication.
“The entire communication system of the Gaza Strip has been destroyed, allowing only speculation currently about the sheer amount of damage.”
