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VIDEO: Plestia Alaqad, 22-year-old Gaza journalist, documents evacuation amid Israeli airstrikes

“I still don’t know how I made it out alive,” says Plestia Alaqad, a Gaza journalist

By Web Desk
October 17, 2023

Plestia Alaqad, a journalist in Gaza City, recorded her evacuation from an apartment building on the night of October 9, the same day she shared footage of herself experiencing explosions nearby.

Alaqad is first seen in this video taking pictures of the destruction outside her flat when Israeli authorities ordered a total siege of the area on Monday.

The following evening, Alaqad is noticed taking refuge in her neighbour's house. 

"We have no idea what is actually going on in the globe. We are only hearing bombs here. Nobody is aware of anything," claims Alaqad.

The journalist then recorded her evacuation from the area, explaining on Instagram that “the Israeli forces suddenly bombed an apartment in my building” and that “the Palestinian Civil Defence came to rescue” those still inside.

“I still don’t know how I made it out alive,” Alaqad said.

The following day, Alaqad shared footage of her apartment and neighbourhood following the strikes. “Fortunately the situation is better than what we expected as we were expecting the worst.”

More than 3,000 Palestinians have lost their lives in Israeli attacks with 12,500 injured.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said on Monday that Israel had killed 11 Palestinian journalists in airstrikes in Gaza since October 7.

Israel briefly stopped its shelling of the Gaza Strip, according to an Al Arabiya correspondent, but then resumed it when sources indicated that the Rafah border gate into the besieged city had reopened.

An hour after security sources in neighbouring Egypt claimed that a truce allowing for the delivery of humanitarian aid and the evacuation of foreigners from the strip was about to take effect, Israel, however, denied that the crossing had reopened and that a truce with the United Nations and Egypt was in place.

The food and water supplies in Gaza are running out, and hospitals have issued emergency alerts due to Israeli aeroplanes bombing neighbourhood after neighbourhood.