Gaza Journalist Quits After 45 Days, As 12-Year-Old Works to Feed Family and Lecturer Teaches Through Blackouts
A Palestinian reporter who spent 45 days documenting the war in Gaza has stopped, saying audiences have grown tired of endless bad news, as families across the territory fight to survive nearly four years of war.
Plestia Alaqad, a Palestinian journalist, documented 45 days of destruction in Gaza for millions of social media followers before she stopped [1]. She survived the war while reporting from inside Gaza, showing daily life under bombardment to a global audience [1]. She now describes "media fatigue"—the exhaustion that comes when audiences grow tired of endless bad news [1]. Her job, she says, was simply "to exist"—to be a witness when so much was being destroyed [1]. She now wonders whether journalism can still move people to act, or whether the world has learned to scroll past [1].
The war in Gaza is now approaching its fourth year, and it has shaped daily life for every family in the territory [2][3]. The Guardian followed five ordinary Palestinians to document how the conflict affects their routines [2][3].
One of them is Mahmoud Seydam, a university lecturer fighting to keep his students learning despite internet cuts and power outages [2]. It is time for his online lecture on museum architecture. He squats in front of a step he uses as a table and opens his laptop [2]. "Is Mohammed the only one here?" he asks [2]. He pulls out his phone and types into the students' chat group that the lecture is about to start. Two students have joined. Mahmoud decides to wait a little longer for the others [2].
Another is Ramadan Ghaban, a 12-year-old boy who wakes each morning in a tent on the beach, unsure if he will survive the day [3]. He lives in a tent pitched on sand dunes above the coastline. Rats have chewed holes in the canvas. Sand blows in through the gaps. He shares a torn mattress with his siblings [3]. The sun has just risen, but it is already hot [3].
"I wake up every morning at 6.30am," he says. "Sometimes, the heat wakes me up, and sometimes it is the sound of the birds, which are everywhere because we live near the sea" [3].
Ramadan works to support his family. He is afraid [3].
"I'm afraid they'll bomb the cafe where I work, or bomb me," he says [3].
For journalists covering the war, the danger is also severe. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reviewed 229 journalist deaths recorded in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories between 2023 and 2026 [4]. The CPJ said that despite some changes to its figures, one fact remains the same: Israeli forces are responsible for most journalist deaths worldwide since 2023 [4].