Gaza in My Phone

by Mazen Kerbaj

Gaza is the first genocide to be captured in real-time images on devices we hold in our hands. Two days after October 7, the Lebanese comic artist Mazen Kerbaj began drawing in reaction to what was appearing in his phone. This powerful and original book brings together that work.

Mazen draws in part to bear witness and raise awareness, but also as a coping mechanism, to remain sane amid the unfolding madness. His straight-to-the-point, high-contrast black-and-white art is accompanied by striking slogans and captions. It has been shared widely around the world, helping people express their solidarity with Palestine.

Produced from Berlin, a city where the repression of Palestinian support has been particularly fierce, Mazen’s drawings raise fundamental questions about seeing as an act of solidarity when those in power seek to suppress news of what is happening.

Haunted by the live-streamed images, we dread seeing more when we open our phones. By representing them in simple cartoons, Mazen allows us to scrutinize and reflect on the horrors we have witnessed. The result is an extraordinary sequence of images and messages that ask us to pause for a moment, to stop, look, mourn, and summon the resolve to head out and join the fight for the living, for life, for justice.

Genres: Comics, Nonfiction, Graphic Novels, Middle East, War, Politics, Graphic Novels Comics

144 pages, Paperback

Published June 10, 2025

About the author

Mazen Kerbaj was born in 1975 in Beirut and lived there since. His main activities are comics, painting and music.
After a lot of works for different publishers and magazines, it is in March 2000 that he releases some of his more personal works in his Journal 1999 (a dairy in comics' format). He self-published eight other books and many short stories since.

Reviews

[Alexander Peterhans · Rating 4 out of 5]

What more is left to say about the genocide in Gaza? Only that our politicians are cowards, maybe?

The images and ideas in this book are direct and impactful. Some wonderful visual design. That said, you might not want to read these cartoons in quick succession, as I did, because the effect becomes more pummeling than actually impactful.

A very strong work.

(Picked up a review copy through Edelweiss)

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartbreaking...had to put the book down several times. Cartoons 'transcribed' from images of what is happening in Gaza. Before I go any further I want to be very clear: I want peace for everyone there, now! Jewish children, Palestinian children - I can't understand why we all can't say this is horrible! One of the most impactful books I have read this year - highest recommendation.

[h i n d · Rating 5 out of 5]

A powerful journal/comic that made me sick to my stomach. It not only documents the horrors for future generations, it captures the numbing feeling of watching it all unfold; the guilt, the insanity, the helplessness.



This is exactly a tweet I saw earlier this month: "There will be studies, in the future, about how scrolling from a short form comedy video to a brief account of the killing of innocents in Gaza to a meme dance to an advertisement is damaging our brains in ways we cannot even fathom now"

This collective feeling being expressed in simple black and white cartoons is simultaneously a gut punch and a crutch to cope with amidst the madness.

Thank you to the publisher for the digital review copy. All opinions are my own.

[Elisa Pierandrei · Rating 4 out of 5]

A harrowing look at Israel's genocide through the drawings of Lebanese comics artist Mazen Kerbaj

[Dactylaura · Rating 5 out of 5]

plus que jamais nécessaire

[Le libraire tranquille · Rating 4 out of 5]

Une lecture terriblement glaçante à propos d'un évènement sur lequel il est essentiel de s'informer.

[Elizabeth A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book blurb: Gaza is the first genocide to be captured in real-time images on devices we hold in our hands. Two days after October 7, the Lebanese comic artist Mazen Kerbaj began drawing in reaction to what was appearing in his phone. This powerful and original book brings together that work.

This is not an easy read and I had to put it down several times. Deceptively simple graphics that convey the horror that unfolded(ing) in Gaza.

[Chris Merola]

I'm out of words to describe the genocide our tax dollars are funding - this collection of drawings is as productive an act of witness/protest/solidarity as anything... it's the only thing that can be done, which is not much - we can watch the death unfold, on our phones, from a safe distance.

[Brian Bean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Devastating book of cartoons exploring the incomprehensible anguish, anger, and powerlessness of watching the genocide in Gaza unfold in images daily. The simplicity of each image is stark, personal, and impressively emotive.

[layan ليان (on hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A striking collection of cartoon illustrations that document the events in Gaza from October 7, 2023, to September 2024. Every page was a heartbeat, a story, a soul.

Now, as we move through the second phase of the ceasefire, looking back at all these stories feels even… more intense. It’s like the horrors are being unleashed all over again, it’s always so important to remind ourselves of what happened, because in remembrance we resist.

History doesn’t fade when we look away—it waits for us to look back. So get to reading, free people.

Thank you, Edelweiss, for giving me the opportunity to read Gaza in My Phone ahead of its release.

[Whitney Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Today would have been my mother’s 92nd birthday… I am happy she’s missing this war.”

Gaza in My Phone explores on the dichotomy of proximity and distance: Palestine is so close to our hearts and, with the integration of screens in our lives, often in our hands. However, our distance from Palestine is a luxury, one too many people are willing to use as an excuse. As Kerbaj’s impactful art clearly shows, there is no excuse. Free Palestine.

[Agathe 🧚🏻‍♀️🍧 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Continuons d’en parler
Continuons à nous informer

[Nasty_reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Capturing very well what I feel like watching Gaza on my phone. Illustrations that made me feel violently sick and show the horrible true

[sweet orange books · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned a lot

[Dave Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

I became familiar with Mazen Kerbaj through his Beirut Won't Cry, Lebanon's July War: A Visual Diary, Fantagraphics (2017) about the 2006 war in Lebanon. Kerbaj, a jazz trumpeter, painter and cartoon journalist wrote with humor and compassion and insight into that terrible time. I have read some of his online work, too, focused on various middle eastern political/social/cultural subjects.

I did not want to read his book about the Gazan genocide. And I had to put it down several times. It is a short book with memes, slogans, cartoons, little of it very sophisticated visually but nevertheless poignant that are shocking and anguishing and sometimes funny. Joe Sacco, Dean/GOAT of comics journalism, writes the introduction.

Think you need to go to Journalism school to do journalism? Just bear witness to what you see, these folks say. Bear witness. Silence is complicity. Resist in any way you can. Find a wheel. Be sand. Or if you can't do that, just speak out in any way you are able.

PS A couple of my Jewish friends here on Goodreads don't seem to mind/applaud my extensive Holocaust-related reviews, but quibble about this word genocide--much documented and almost universally recognized, about Israel's war on Palestine (see Sacco's own short -ork, that you can read online for free). Yes, October 7 was inexcusable but maybe we can at least agree that "making nice" over Gaza is no longer a possibility, especially for Americans complicit in this tragedy. And the vast majority of my Jewish friends are in solidarity with Gaza.

How might Kerbaj joke about Netanyahu? Maybe to say: Not Winning the Nobel Peace Prize, either? But I'm not a humorist, and so much of what I am experiencing in the US, Chicago, Broadview and read on my phone daily is the opposite of funny. But I have always appreciated comedians for their way into commentary on the absurdities/atrocities in the world, such as Colbert, Stewart, South Park, Saturday Night Live, and then every day people, like Kerbaj, who inspire us to join them.

[Cheryl Klein · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kerbaj, who grew up in Lebanon during their 15-year civil war, notes that Israel's attack on Palestine is the first genocide to be live-streamed, creating a moral crisis for people witnessing it around the world. This series of illustrations, slogans, and cartoons is also meant for a phone. Many (all?) of these one-panel black-and-white statements have appeared on his Instagram account. They are bold, powerful, and devastating. The human brain was not meant to understand children being targeted, starved, bombed, and blamed for their own deaths. The only way to approach it is is bit by bit, story by story, irony by irony. In this way, Kerbaj helps us understand. Also, we will never understand. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to stop the violence in any way available to us. If you can't speak out, he says, think about Gaza. That might sound useless, but I do believe that action begins with witness and empathy. I'm not sure whether the book packs a bigger punch as a collection, or as a disruption of our Instagram feeds, but either way, I'm glad it exists.

[Alan D.D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

No apto para personas impresionables. Absolutamente necesario. No puedo recomendarlo lo suficiente, pero sí puedo insistir en que lo necesitan leer, especialmente en este momento. Es una libro corto pero poderoso, con un mensaje real que todos necesitamos tener presente. El estilo del autor es tanto sencillo como directo, lo cual hace que cada página tenga una fuerza visual tremenda, incluso cuando no hay imágenes sino solo palabras. Simplemente una obra de arte nacida del caos y el trauma.

Not for the faint of heart. Absolutely essential. I can't recommend it highly enough, but I can insist that you need to read it, especially right now. It's a short but powerful book with a real message we all need to keep in mind. The author's style is both simple and direct, which gives each page tremendous visual impact, even when there are no images, only words. Simply a work of art born from chaos and trauma.

[Antonella · Rating 5 out of 5]

A necessary and deeply moving book.
I cried several times while reading it, but I’m grateful I did read it. Many of the cartoons resonated with me emotionally — for example, the one where the author lists ordinary daily activities:
I cook lunch while... / I read a book while... / I eat breakfast while... GAZA IS BEING BOMBED. This captured a feeling I’ve often had myself — the dissonance between everyday life and the horror happening not so far away.

I also appreciated an observation that echoed my own thoughts:
We talk and hear a lot about the children and women of Gaza; let us not forget that the vast majority of men in Gaza are innocent civilians too.

The author's afterword illustrates how the logic of 'us versus them' can cloud a person's judgment.

[Alessia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Difficile da catalogare. Un diario fatto di pensieri trasposti in vignette, immagini e sperimentazioni della dimensione di una pagina. Frammenti che rendono i pensieri dell'artista libanese Kerbaj tangibili e taglienti. Il primo genocidio ad essere (almeno inizialmente, prima che tagliassero le comunicazioni) documentato in diretta da chi lo sta vivendo tramite i propri smartphone. Forse la forma del libro non è nemmeno la più adatta per rendere giustizia a questo lavoro. Dovrebbe stare sulle pareti, in una mostra, grande, bianco e nero. Non si scappa, niente grigio per Gaza

[Kirin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over 160 pages the compilation of the artist's drawings speak clearly to the genocide we are watching on our phones, the feelings we cannot articulate, and the heartache of a silent world. The author is Lebanese Christian and the backmatter about his own biases that had to be overcome, propaganda that had to be unlearned, and acknowledging his own hatred for Muslims is illuminating in showing how the narrative about Palestine has been careful shaped since Israel's inception.

[Andrew Dittmar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gaza in My Phone by Masen Kerbat


Pardon my language, but holy sh*t.


Reading history:
Normally I keep this in my private notes section, but I'm moving it. Yay!

Reading history was not added on Goodreads, but was instead kept on a post-it note with the book.


Started December 20th, 2025.
Finished December 20th, 2025.


December 20th, 2025: read entire book in physical copy.

[Ollie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Harrowing. This is the first book I've read from someone also viewing the genocide through their phone, other literature I've read has been from Palestinians, but this perspective of the outsider looking in felt so intimate and also familiar as I too am living in a western country viewing footage I'll never get out of my head and wondering how on earth this can be happening.

[Gaëtan Gaillard · Rating 5 out of 5]

D'habitude les romans ou reportages graphiques permettent d'atténuer la violence de l'image à travers le dessin mais ici - sans que les dessins soient gores ou explicites - il est difficile de ne pas se sentir remué par la tragédie retranscrite très intelligemment par Mazen Kerbaj. Très bon ouvrage.

[Nuha · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's not a lot of words in Maxen Kerbaj's Gaza in My Phone and that's because the message is simple: STOP KILLING CHILDREN. this book captures the unique rage that comes from repeatedly viewing the tragedies in Gaza every day to such young kids and feeling helpless. this book should be mandatory reading for all high school students on up. may we never forget. may we build Gaza back up 10 fold.

[stori · Rating 4 out of 5]

4★ stark and devastating portrayal of what is happening in gaza through the lense of illustrations based on our phone screens. one day in the future our children will be looking at these images in history class and wondering how we could ever let this happen.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

These drawings speak louder than words. Not that I could ever forget, but each page is a reminder of all the atrocities that have been happening since the start of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, Palestine. This book brought me to tears. When will this nightmare end?

[Ain Ashura · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is going to be difficult to explain to future generations that it was in "our time" that Israel is doing what it is doing.

[Abhineet Kumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

"A newborn baby was killed even before receiving his birth certificate. His parents still had to choose a name for him to be written on his death certificate."

[Dorothée Buch-Andersen · Rating 5 out of 5]

génial, mazen kerbaj décris si parfaitement l’horreur de la guerre à travers son art et sa rébellion, je conseille à tout le monde de lire ça, c’est rapide et ça ouvre d’autant plus les yeux

[Anna Wallman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Touching.