As Israel Invades Gaza, Citizens Post Their Stories On New App

As Israel launched a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, pictures from various parts of Gaza and Israel surfaced on Whisper, a social media app that provides its users with total anonymity.

The Whisper app allows people to share "their personal stories ... their craving to be interconnected but not exactly connected," Slade Sohmer, head of news at Whisper, said on Medium recently. If Facebook and Twitter were shut down, Whisper could still provide users the ability to post on social media.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) announced that it launched a ground operation in the Gaza Strip and had called up an additional 18,000 reservists. Resistance forces in Gaza reportedly started to fight back against the Israeli invasion in Khan Younis and other eastern neighborhoods Thursday night.

Below are some images and stories from the app that were gathered during and following the initial IDF invasion.