Hassan Hamad was killed in an attack on his home in Jabalia camp, bringing the total number of journalists killed to 175.
Israeli forces killed Palestinian journalist Hassan Hamad in an airstrike on his home in the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, days after the slain journalist said he had been warned by an Israeli officer to stop filming in Gaza.
With the killing of the 19-year-old journalist, whose work had appeared on Tel Aviv Tribune and other networks, the number of Palestinian journalists killed since the start of the war rose to 175, according to the Gaza government’s media office. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says at least 128 journalists and media workers are among the more than 41,000 people killed since Israel launched the devastating war on Gaza in October 2023.
Colleagues and the government media office in Gaza confirmed Hamad’s death, saying the journalist’s home was deliberately attacked to silence him after he received threats.
“Hassan Hamad, the journalist who did not live past the age of 20, resisted in his own way for a year. He resisted by staying away from his family so they wouldn’t be targeted. He resisted when he had trouble finding an internet signal, sitting for an hour or two on the roof just to send the videos that come to you in seconds,” said a post on Hamad’s X account posted by his colleague.
“At 6 a.m. (03:00 GMT), he called me to send his latest video. After a call that lasted only a few seconds, he said: “Here they are, here they are, done” and hung up,” the colleague added.
According to footage verified by Tel Aviv Tribune, Hamad’s body was found in pieces and had to be put in bags and boxes after the Israeli attack.
“This is what’s left of his body,” one of his colleagues shared in an Instagram post.
Hamad had been documenting Israel’s war in Gaza for over a year and working as a freelance television journalist.
Palestinian journalist Maha Hussaini said that days before Hamad’s death, he was threatened by an Israeli officer via a Whatsapp message and several calls, ordering him to stop filming in Gaza.
“’Listen, if you continue to spread lies about Israel, then we will come for you and turn your family into (…) This is your final warning’…” Hussaini posted on X, sharing the message Hamad had received.
Listen, if you continue to spread lies about Israel, then we will come for you and turn your family into (…) This is your last warning”. Journalist Hassan Hamad received this message on WhatsApp, as well as several calls from an Israeli officer ordering him to stop filming… pic.twitter.com/q6SAzMj5xc
– Maha Hussaini (@MahaGaza) October 6, 2024
The Israeli government has not yet commented on his death.
“Every time a journalist is killed, injured, arrested or forced into exile, we lose fragments of the truth,” CPJ program director Carlos Martinez de la Serna said in a statement Friday.
“Those responsible for these victims face a double trial: one under international law and the other before the merciless gaze of history,” he added.