It’s been more than a hundred days since Israel launched its ground offensive in Gaza following the 7 October Hamas attack.
Since then, the death toll among Palestinians living in Gaza has risen to nearly 25,000. Two-thirds of them are women and children and thousands more are believed to be under the rubble, according to Palestinian authorities.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state once it ends its ground offensive in Gaza.
In a news conference, he told the United States that he is committed to press on with the “military operation” until “complete victory”.
With the possibility of truce looking bleak, Palestinians across the world are feeling a shared sense of helplessness as family members and friends are suffering at the hands of war.
Kadar*, lives in East London but the rest of his family live on the Gaza strip where more than 10,000 children have been killed and 60,000 injured, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The 20-year-old student spends most of his time praying he does not receive another “soul-destroying” phone call.
He said: “The first call I got from back home was to tell me my uncle and his two sons had been killed by an Israeli airstrike.”
Kadar received the heart-breaking phone call on 11 October but since then, he has lost up to 18 family members.
“I’ll never hear the voices of some of my aunties, uncles and cousins. They were only babies they didn’t do anything,” he said as sadness filled his voice.
Like most Palestinians living in the UK, he sits and waits to hear from his family as he struggles to reach contact with them.
The Israeli offensive was launched after the 7 October Hamas attack which killed 1,200 people.
Following the devastation, Israel has promised to dismantle the group, but its military campaign has proven to be misplaced as the civilian death toll is “far too high” according to the US – its closest ally.
Internet and mobile services have been down for five days in Gaza. This has been the longest of several outages during the conflict so far, according to the internet access advocacy group NetBlocks.
These constant outages coupled with the invasion and attacks have made it extremely difficult for Palestinians to gain information about the latest strikes, casualties and the safety of their loved ones.
A Palestinian student from the University of Kent who asked to remain anonymous has lost complete contact with her friend who lives in Gaza.
“I haven’t heard from her in months. I watch the news hoping her name does not show up on the killed people list,” she said.
But it is not just her friend who the student has lost contact with.
She said: “There is no communication with my family or friends. We are lucky if we get to hear their voices for even a minute, but even that is asking for a lot nowadays.”
As a student studying in the UK, she feels the university have failed in providing sufficient support and has been disheartened by its “poor efforts” to speak out on the suffering of Palestinian people.
She said: “We as students are working to raise awareness and are putting pressure on the university to do something. If we didn’t do any of this the university would not care.”
“It is very sad and frustrating; I have lost belief in what we call equality. Clearly our lives do not matter and are not as valuable compared to others.”
In a statement on the University of Kent’s website, it said: “Our thoughts have been with our Israeli and Palestinian students and staff with family or direct ties to the area affected by the escalating conflict.”
It asks for anyone who is feeling distressed to seek advice and support from resources available on its website.
However, the terror and heartache is a feeling many Palestinians cannot escape as their eyes stay fixated on their screens, watching the destruction of their home happen from afar.
More than 85% of Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced and 50% of housing units have been destroyed, left uninhabitable or damaged since the start of the crisis.
Nour*, 36, stays in the UK for her studies but lives in a refugee camp in Lebanon.
She said: “I’m physically and emotionally exhausted. It is heart-breaking to see my people being killed and forced out of their homes. I’m seeing too many innocent children being massacred.”
While the trauma of losing her loved ones will haunt Nour forever, she honours the strength of the people in Gaza and finds a sense of peace in their resilience.
Nour said: “They are suffering a lot. I’m worried for my family in the South of Lebanon and my friends but their power, determination is what we count on.
“I will not stop speaking up, I have a voice and I will make sure it is heard.”
But a new wave of violence is feared as the destruction of Gaza continues and the occupied West Bank is hit with a series of major raids as well as regional tensions beginning to grow.
Since November, global powers have been alarmed as trade between Asia and Europe has stalled due to attacks on ships in the area by the Iran-backed Houthi militia. The Houthis who control most of Yemen, say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Following the Red Sea shipping attacks, the US military has fired its fourth round of missiles against Houthi-controlled sites.
Despite global tensions rising and the ongoing pressure to come to a solution, Israeli officials have assured the fighting will not come to an end until “Hamas is completely defeated.”
As the hope for justice wears thin for Palestinians, those living in Western countries continue to protest and fight for their loved ones with the faith that Palestinian civilians will eventually be free from their suffering.
*Names have been changed and surnames omitted to offer anonymity.