Sunday marks a full six months since Israel launched its military campaign in Gaza, in retaliation for the October 7 attacks by Hamas which killed more than 1,000 people.

Israel’s relentless bombardment of the Palestinian enclave has killed more than 33,000 people and injured close to 76,000.

Here’s what Palestinian journalists are saying as Israel’s offensive shows no signs of abating.

‘Is this going to end?’

Palestinian journalist Hind Khoudary, who had to flee Gaza in November, appeared to be at a loss for words. In a post on Instagram, she said, “Six months. How many words should I write? A paragraph or two? Should I write a page? But my vocabulary can’t describe anything.

“My eyes are tired, my heart is scattered. The sky and sea is what gives me strength. Is this going to end? Are we going back home?” she asked, saying that home did not exist anymore.

“My fingers have been paralysed, I was not able to write. Do you really think this is going to end?”

She said that her uncle was killed last week and she had seen his photo on social media but she did not know where he was buried.

“I wish I kissed and hugged him before our last goodbye. Is this how it is now? Your beloved ones just get killed and you’re not even able to see them for one last time?”

She questioned why this was happening, saying: “Living under occupation has always been suffocating, every single day. I miss my dad, my mom, my brothers, my nephews, my husband, my friends.

“I need a big hug, a pat on the back — someone to tell this is going to end and everything will be okay,” she said.

“God, will you fix my heart after all of this?” she asked.

‘Will not stop until this genocide ends’

In a post on Instagram, Palestinian journalist Bisan Owda — who is still in Gaza — said, “The terrorist Israeli occupation, after half a year, is still insisting on entering Rafah, which is the last city that still contains most of the population of the Gaza Strip.”

She said that 80 per cent of the Strip had been destroyed and suffered from “continuous military invasions”, adding that the Israeli forces were besieging hospitals, committing “massacres” and destroying residential neighbourhoods while also starving the populace.

“The terrorist occupation is committing these crimes in front of the world, and is trying to have more time to destroy the hopes of the displaced to return and [to] kill them with hunger and disease, and make the world get used to what is happening in Gaza and reduce media coverage and solidarity with Palestine,” she said, adding that this was being done in preparation for “stealing the land”.

She called on people to not let Gazans be killed and forgotten, saying that April 15 would be a global strike. She also said that she would not stop until “this genocide ends and I sit in the middle of my city feeling safe while I help my people rebuild Gaza”.

‘Resilience is Palestinians’

Palestinian journalist Plestia Alaqad, who fled Gaza in November, shared a video on Instagram talking about resilience.

“According to Palestinians, resilience is the ability to celebrate a birthday as airstrikes and bombs echo in the background. Resilience is the ability to smile in the midst of a genocide.

“Resilience is the ability to make others laugh, even if just for a few seconds. In other words, resilience is Palestinians,” she said in the video.

In her caption, she said, “If I want to highlight one thing it would be the resilience of the Palestinians whom despite decades of occupation and 6 months of a a genocide, YET they remain resilient.”

‘Stop dehumanising us’

Palestinian photojournalist Motaz Azaiza, who left Gaza in January, shared a clip of his talk at New York University on Instagram.

In his caption, he said, “I have lost a lot in the past six months; friends, family members and a part of my soul. Stop dehumanising us, we are not just mere numbers, everyone we lost had a name, a story and a place in my heart.

“Stop the horrific genocide in my beautiful Gaza and stop the dehumanisation of my people,” he said.

He said that he was speaking on different forums and also speaking to those who could make a difference.

“Together we are stronger, your voice and every voice makes a difference, continue to speak up and protest wherever you are in the world and never forget to say,” he said.

Header image: This picture taken on April 7, 2024 shows a view of a partially-collapsed building in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip after Israel pulled its ground forces out of the southern Gaza Strip. — AFP