Gaza remains under unrelenting assault as Israel’s war on the Strip stretches into its 617th day. With bombs falling from the sky and shells crashing from the sea, Palestinians are being killed in their homes, in their tents, and while queuing for food. This brutal campaign has already claimed over 55,000 lives, the vast majority of them civilians, and the toll continues to rise.

For five days now, the entire Gaza Strip has been plunged into silence, no phones, no internet, no way to reach the outside world. Israeli forces have blocked repair teams from accessing damaged infrastructure, deepening the blackout and isolating a besieged population already cut off by land, air and sea.

Hospitals, barely functioning under siege, report staggering casualties. Al-Awda Hospital received eight martyrs and over 120 injured after an airstrike hit crowds gathered for aid near the so-called Netzarim checkpoint. In another massacre, Israeli naval forces opened fire on civilians waiting near Al-Nabulsi roundabout, west of Gaza City.

Nowhere is safe. Artillery has targeted homes and tents, striking the Al-Tuffah neighbourhood, the Asdaa area near Khan Younis, and shelters near Al-Khaldi Mosque. In Jabalia, an airstrike on the Dabbour family home added to the growing list of destroyed families.

With famine already tightening its grip and communications cut, the people of Gaza face a terrifying silence, a silence filled with smoke, grief, and unanswered cries for help. And yet, as the world watches, the destruction continues unchecked.