Graduate Asmaa's texts to BBC unleashed from ruins of Gaza: 'Still alive'

Asmaa texts to BBC via WhatsApp text message from the ruins of Gaza

Asmaa texts to BBC via WhatsApp text message from the ruins of Gaza
Asmaa texts to BBC via WhatsApp text message from the ruins of Gaza 

BBC's Paul Adams has been in constant contact with a young graduate from the ruins in Gaza for six years.

Via a text message the youngster sent updates into the terrors and minor victories she experienced during the brutal conflict that left infinite killed. 

She also shed light on the dangers and the looming fears as to what would be her and the nation's fate facing brutality at the hands of Israelis, who have infiltrated Gaza. 

"My phone lights up. It is Asmaa. Still alive," she writes. 

On 19 March 2024 after weeks of deafening silence she reappeared on WhatsApp with a message that read,  “Sorry. Bad internet connection and dangerous days.” And then silence prevailed yet again for another two months. 

About Asmaa's texts to BBC Adams revealed, "It has been like this since months. Long disappearances with flurries of text messages as the 28-year-old emerged briefly amid the nightmare of Gaza's longest war."

He added,  "It is always late at night. Somewhere, Asmaa has found a signal. Far away in London, my phone pings as the messages tumble in." 

"I met Asmaa in 2018. I was in Gaza, reporting on daily protests at the border fence with Israel, where thousands of mostly young Palestinians angrily commemorated their ancestors’ displacement during Israel’s War of Independence, 70 years earlier," Adam said. 

He continued, "Asmaa was not part of the protests. I found her at her family’s home a few miles away in Jabalia, quietly writing stories, some of which I had read online, about daily life in a place she both loved and hated." 

To note, Asmaa is a talented young lady as back in September 2022 she launched her own online business, Star Cafe, a coffee delivery service. 

Diving deep into her social media her feeds suggest her optimistic view about life and her passion to fulfill her goals.

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