Israel bombed three schools-turned-shelters, intensifying attacks across Gaza City and ordering residents to evacuate. Eyewitnesses report that the Israeli army is sending booby-trapped vehicles into neighborhoods and detonating them remotely.

Although trained as a social researcher, when the war began in October 2023 I joined the search and rescue team in the Gaza City neighborhood of al-Shuja’iyya. Here are some of my stories of being a first responder during the Gaza genocide.