Since October, Palestinians across Gaza have relied on social media and text messages to convey their suffering to the world.
This is how families separated by the war - both within and outside the strip - have remained in contact, despite frequent network blackouts.
Messages from inside the besieged strip document the daily difficulties and atrocities experienced by the population of roughly 2 million.
They express every feeling from deep grief and fear to deep faith, and even dark humour as a coping mechanism.
Here, The National shares some of the most impactful messages sent to our reporters from people in Gaza since October.
Mohammad Salah, known as Abu Jamal, is a paramedic with the Palestinian Red Crescent.
Before the war, the 42-year-old lived in northern Gaza. On December 20 last year, he and his eight fellow team members were arrested by Israeli forces at an ambulance centre in Jabalia.
During his detainment, Abu Jamal was blindfolded, handcuffed, stripped and beaten by Israeli soldiers. He was released on the same day, but his colleagues remained in custody much longer.
He sent his family to “safety” in Al Mawasi, near Khan Younis, but he continues to carry out his duties as a paramedic in Rafah, where he now lives.
Dr Majed Jaber, 25, graduated from medical school four months before the war began. He speaks English fluently, having learnt from watching the BBC.
Since October 2023, he has been volunteering at the European Hospital, near Khan Younis.
To raise awareness of the struggles medics face in Gaza while treating children, he began posting videos from inside the hospital to Instagram.
In some videos, he also speaks about the mental health issues being experienced by new mothers.
He is a resident of Rafah and was displaced for the first time in May, when he and his family were forced to move to Al Mawasi for safety.
During one of his first few nights there, a drone strike hit his room. He says it is a “miracle” he is alive.
Odai Hassan is an aid worker in his 20s.
Since October, he has been helping distribute aid to people in need in the north of Gaza – one of the most underserved areas of the strip due to the danger and inaccessibility.
He had one of his legs amputated after being injured in a previous conflict and received a prosthetic from the Palestinian Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF).
He has been forced to flee his home in the Jabalia refugee camp and now lives in the west of Gaza.
Tassneem Al Zayan, 37, worked as a journalist in Gaza for more than 10 years before the war.
When the war broke out in October, Tassneem's husband was in the US, where he remains today.
She stayed in Rafah, taking care of their son and daughter and struggling to manage on her own.
When Israel began its ground incursion, her sister’s family fled Gaza city to stay with a friend in a flat in Nuseirat refugee camp, believing the area in central Gaza to be safer. A few days later, their building was hit by an Israeli airstrike, killing Tassneem’s sister and nephew.
Today, Tassneem and her children are in Egypt, after gathering enough money to pay the fees to leave the strip on May 1.
Soad Mohanna, 35, is a cousin of one of our reporters.
When the war began, she chose to remain in the family home with her relatives in Gaza city.
Israeli ground forces invaded the city in December and Soad’s family found themselves surrounded. They became trapped in their home for 10 days, unable to leave for food or water and under fire until the military moved on.
The family remain in the city today.
Words Nada AlTaher and Nagham Mohanna
Editor Juman Jarallah
Design Nick Donaldson
Animation Aneesh Grigary
Sub Editor Julie Adams
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