LONDON: Palestinian journalist Hassan Hamad, 19, was killed in his home at the Jabalia refugee camp in North Gaza during an Israeli airstrike on Sunday, according to local media reports.
Hamad was caught in the heavy bombardment as Israeli forces continued strikes on Jabalia and other areas including Rafah and Al-Zawaida.
On Monday, Gaza marked the one-year anniversary of the Oct. 7 attack that has since plunged the Strip, Lebanon, and other regional players into a widening conflict, escalating tensions across the region.
“With great sadness and pain, I mourn the journalist Hassan Hammad … the journalist who was not yet 20 years old, resisted for a whole year in his own special way, and stayed on his own, away from family so they would not be targeted,” a friend posted on his X account, confirming the young man’s death.
“He resisted while trying to find internet signal and would sit for hours on the roof of his home to publish videos. Yesterday, from 10pm, he was travelling between bombed areas and returning home to get internet signal then going back to cover what had remained from the bombing,” the post continued.
بكامل الحزن والألم انعي الصحفي حسن حمد اشهد الله انك اديت الأمانة … حسن حمد الصحفي الذي لم يتجاوز عمره ال٢٠ ربيعا قاوم لمدة سنة كاملة بطريقته الخاصة قاوم حين ابتعد عن أهله لكي لا يتم استهدافهم قاوم عندما كان يعاني للبحث عن إرسال للنت ويجلس ساعة وساعتين فوق سطح المنزل لكي يبعث…
— Hassan Hamad (@Hassan_hamad77) October 6, 2024
Hamad was reportedly injured in the leg but continued documenting the assaults, sending his final video at 6 a.m. on Sunday before being killed. His body was later found in pieces, gathered in a box by those on the scene.
Hamad became well-known for documenting Israeli strikes and their impact on Gaza’s residents, including the devastation caused by bombings, siege conditions, and resource shortages.
According to reports, he had received multiple threats from Israeli officers instructing him to stop filming the attacks.
“Listen, if you continue spreading lies about Israel, we’ll come for you next and turn your family into (...) This is your last warning,” read a message allegedly sent to Hamad via WhatsApp from an Israeli officer, a warning that was shared on social media.
In one of his last posts, Hamad reported on Israeli airstrikes in Beit Lahia and the bombardment of Jabalia. Just days earlier, he and fellow journalist Moamen Abu Awda survived a drone attack in the Jabalia camp.
Since the conflict began on Oct. 7, 2023, at least 128 journalists and media workers have been killed, all but five of them Palestinian. The true death toll is feared to be much higher.
The ongoing conflict has pushed Gaza into a deep humanitarian crisis. Local authorities report that more than a third of the Strip’s buildings have been destroyed, with the death toll nearing 42,000 and over 91,000 injured.
