Young boys walk over debris, on July 3, 2025, at Mustafa Hafez school, sheltering Palestinians displaced by the war, following an overnight Israeli strike in Gaza City. (Credit: Omar al-Qattaa/AFP)
“Last night felt like the beginning of a war, a new phase,” said Alaa Salamah, a woman in her 30s who works with a civil society organization in Gaza, as the Israeli strikes and shootings in the Strip have killed more than 100 Gazans in the last 24 hours.
As Salamah spoke to L’Orient Today on Thursday, the persistent buzz of an Israeli drone filled the air, at times making her voice difficult to hear.
“I live in western Gaza. Yesterday, the bombing was very, very loud. I couldn’t sleep. It felt like the war had just started all over again," she said through the noise. "We don’t have internet or electricity, so I had no way of knowing what was happening."
Israel has significantly escalated its attacks on Gaza parallel to news that its officials were convinced, after an hours-long meeting with top U.S. negotiator Steve Witkoff on Tuesday, to agree to a U.S.-backed cease-fire proposal that is now in Hamas' hands for review. Daily death tolls have neared 100 for weeks now, with hundreds of people having been shot by Israeli troops as they attempt to approach aid distribution sites.
"The bombs were terrifying," Salameh said of yesterday's air raids. "You feel the earth slipping beneath you. We put nylon on the windows to try to protect ourselves after our house was partially destroyed, but it only makes it worse. The sound echoes. It feels like the bomb is falling right on top of you.”
Despite the fear, Salamah continues to go out every day to do her work.
“I work with a civil society organization, so I have to go out. But just going and coming back is dangerous. Very dangerous. People who go out just to get humanitarian aid often don’t come back as they get shot by the Israeli army, but when you are hungry, you get desperate.”
According to a statement from the Gaza Health Ministry on Thursday, the total toll from Israeli attacks in the past 24 hours stands at 118 dead and 581 injured. Among those killed, 45 were trying to access humanitarian aid when they were struck by airstrikes and shootings overnight. The escalating violence continues to deepen the humanitarian crisis in the region.
She paused for a moment as the sound of drones grew louder in the background.
“Israel has the technology, the drones, and even artificial intelligence to target individuals precisely. They can do it if they want to. But they choose to bomb unarmed civilians instead. They choose to cause the largest number of casualties possible. We have nothing to protect us. We only have God.”
Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has killed at least 57,130 people in Gaza, and over 135,173 have been wounded. Thousands more are missing and thought to be still buried under the rubble that now covers most of the besieged enclave.
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