About the Project:
This project is a tribute to our colleagues and our journalist friends who were killed in Gaza. Israel’s targeting of media professionals during the current onslaught is unprecedented in history. We present their stories to remember them.
Journalists in Gaza are tasked with the impossible: surviving daily life with a lack of shelter, food, and other basic needs, worrying constantly about loved ones، and facing ongoing destruction of everything they own while putting their lives on the line to do their job.
On top of such unbearable circumstances, they carry the responsibility of conveying the urgency, details, and dimensions of devastation, having to tell and retell their personal and collective loss to the world.
About the Photographer:
Bilal Al-Hams, a 23-year-old physiotherapy graduate from Gaza and a member of the Untold Palestine Collective. He has spent eight years honing his photography skills. He has delved into different styles, from commercial to landscape photography, and is currently focused on documenting the reality of the war in Gaza. Despite having his studio and home destroyed by the Israeli war machine, Bilal continues to photograph the suffering and challenges faced by his family and community in Rafah, where he is currently displaced.
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“My father is deceased, and my mother is all I have left in this life. Unfortunately, she is battling cancer and has not received treatment for six months.
Before the onset of the war, I was like any young man pursuing his dream and his future. I had established a modest company alongside my journalism work. However, the war brought immense loss. The company I had worked hard to build was completely destroyed, and the house where I had lived for years was gone in the blink of an eye. During my displacement, I lost many equipment and cameras while crossing the checkpoints in the southern Gaza Strip, severely impacting my ability to work as a journalist.
The war has brought moments of unbearable pain and difficulty, that we cannot forget. Now, I reside in a makeshift tent, having lost many dear colleagues and friends, including my journalist companion and friend, Hassouna Salim, who was a remarkable individual.
There is no human being in the whole world who could bear what the Palestinians are going through in the Gaza Strip.”
Journalist Mohamed Qaita lost his friend Hassouna Salim
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“One of the most difficult moments for me was when we were about to have breakfast in the tent, and our journalist friend Mustafa al-Thariya said, “Promise me that you will not start your breakfast without me. I will be back in a few minutes.” He never did, as he was killed.
My day in the war starts with standing in line in the morning to get water and then thinking about how we will get food, which is hard to come by. For the first 50 days of the war, I was separated from my wife and three daughters, who had been displaced to another area.
I lost eight journalist friends, the closest to me was Samer Abu Daqqa, an Al Jazeera cameraman, who is particularly close to my heart. During the first 50 days of the war, we were together to report the events at Nasser Hospital. Samer was very optimistic that he would see his wife and children in Belgium soon, but the circumstances were bigger than him. He spent six hours alone, bleeding and waiting for the ambulance. But when it arrived, Samer was dead. Samer's presence was always reassuring because he was one of the longest-serving photographers in the field.”
Journalist Mohammed Bassem Daher, 33, lost his colleagues and friends Mustafa al-Thariya and Samer Abu Daqqa
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“One of the hardest moments I experienced during this war was the birth of my second son, Ashraf, although I had imagined that it would be one of the most beautiful moments of my life. Before the war, I had travelled to Turkey to prepare for his arrival, purchasing clothes and necessities. Now he was born far away from home, with no clothes or anything a child needs.
I am a father of two children and have been married for four years. Our home, along with all our belongings and cherished memories, was destroyed. We lost many colleagues and dear friends in this war, but my dear journalist friend Mohammed Yaghi is the one whose absence affects me the most. Mohammed was a funny and professional person and embraced life fully. He was the father of a daughter named Tishreen, and she meant everything to him. He lost her in this war, and his wife was killed with him.”
Journalist Ghazi al-Aloul, 28, lost his friend, journalist Mohammed Yaghi
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"We became homeless, sleeping on the street. My wife and children are in one place, while I am in another.
Every day, one of my primary concerns revolves around ensuring the safety of my family amidst potential dangers. I am not in regular contact with them due to poor communication and the danger of travelling between cities. I try to communicate with them only if there is a bombing in the area where they are located.
In this war, I lost my colleague, friend and dear brother, journalist Abdulkarim Odeh. The sheer brutality of the war led Abdulkarim to suspend his work to care for his sick mother. Unfortunately, we lost Abdulkarim while he was on the way to buy bread during a sudden bombing. After being the one who reported the news, he became the news himself.”
Journalist Saif Riad al-Suwaiti, 33, lost his friend, journalist Abdulkarim Odeh.
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“One of the most impossible things to do is to have four consecutive hours of peaceful sleep or to enjoy a hot shower.
I work as a newspaper editor at Al-Quds newspaper. Since the beginning of the war, my days have been spent outside, covering events, often returning home late at night. Throughout this period, I've grappled with continuous fear and anxiety for my family, knowing the ongoing bombings pose a constant threat to their lives.
My family and I have been displaced more than six times, and each time we miraculously survived. Once, we stayed in the street for 10 hours while occupation tanks were shelling residential towers. We lived a truly terrifying night where we didn't know where to go.
Loss is one of my greatest fears. During the war, I lost most of my relatives and my home, but the loss that impacted me the most was that of my colleague and friend Alaa Al-Hams. She was one of the kindest and most professional people, but unfortunately, she was killed.”
Journalist Amal Al-Wadia lost her friend, journalist Alaa Al-Hams
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“The most difficult moments are when I take a break and remember the shocking images, my overwhelming sense of helplessness in the face of people's suffering, and my inability to alter the grim reality of war.
Since the beginning of the war to this day, I have been unable to reunite with my family or ensure their safety, as communication networks and internet access have been severed in the Gaza Strip. I feel fear and anxiety for them all the time because the bombing is non-stop.
During the war, I lost my colleague, the martyred journalist Ayat Khadra, who was a very distinguished media personality. Ayat's biggest dream was to see Gaza even more beautiful than it was before the war, but the war came and destroyed the little beauty there was, and it destroyed Ayat and all her dreams.”
Journalist Malak Abu Odeh, 26, lost her friend, journalist Ayat Khadour
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“I think about my children all the time when I'm away from them. What if I see them in a hospital? What if I leave them without saying goodbye?
On the first day of the war, I decided to send my children immediately to their grandfather's house. I was working around the clock, and all my thoughts were with them and my parents. With each escalation and the increasing frequency of raids, bombings, and death, my fear only intensified. Their concern for my safety was also significant, particularly given that journalists were targeted in the early days of the conflict.
I lost so many friends, relatives, neighbours and acquaintances in this war that I've lost count. My dear friend Hala Ahmed, along with her husband and daughters all died in a violent raid on the Crown Tower, remaining buried under the rubble for days. They were a family that embraced life through art, painting, and literature, all of which were tragically buried beneath the rubble.
Among the journalists, I remember the persistent young man Ahmad Badir, who was kind, funny, educated and deeply devoted to his mother. He was killed in an Israeli raid near the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah.”
Journalist Wissam Yassin remembers her friend Hala Ahmed with her husband and daughters, and journalist Ahmed Badir
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"For six months, I haven't been able to see my family. I hope they are still well knowing they reside in the northern Gaza Strip without access to food, water, or electricity.
I am Ahmed Hassaballah, a 30-year-old journalist. The war turned my life upside down. I used to see my parents regularly and hear their prayers for me. But, during the war, all these beautiful moments, and everything sweet in our lives, disappeared.
In this war, I lost the most precious human being in my entire life — my first hero, my mentor, and my light. I lost my father, and I couldn't say goodbye to him. I hadn’t seen him for six months when he was killed while fasting. He was on his way to secure food for my family, to buy flour for them and was shot directly in the chest. My father was the main supporter in my life; the one who bought me a camera in 2015, allowing me to pursue a career in journalism.”
Journalist Ahmed Hassaballah lost his father
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