Phone, Internet Connections Returns to Gaza

Phone and internet connections are returning to Gaza after more than a day of near-total blackout.

While connectivity is being restored across Gaza, people are still struggling to reach their loved ones in the Strip.

Jehad Abusalim, a Palestinian PhD student in New York, said had not been able to reach his parents and brothers in Gaza since communication went down in the enclave on Friday evening.

He said it is scary and painful not knowing whether his parents are alive or dead.

Abusalim, who is also executive director of The Jerusalem Fund, an NGO supporting Palestinians, said the witnessing mass destruction of the Gaza Strip and the killing of thousands of civilians which is terrifying.

He said hearing that there will be a new phase of the war is so terrifying, and asked everyone to push for a ceasefire.

Israel has been bombing Gaza since the 7 October and the health ministry in Gaza says more than 8,000 people have been killed.