Israel launched the “Iron Swords” aggression against the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, in response to the “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation launched at dawn on the same day by the Palestinian resistance, led by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).
The occupation used the most powerful weapons of war and various methods to harm civilians, including displacement, starvation, and intimidation, and committed horrific massacres in various areas of the Gaza Strip.
During this aggression, figures emerged who took it upon themselves to expose the crimes of the occupation and convey the message of the victims to the world. These personalities varied between government, medical, media, and military officials. It was brought together by her quest to be the “voice of Gaza” that Israel seeks to silence.
The most prominent of these faces and personalities are:
Abu Obeida
The media spokesman for the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, is an unidentified “masked” figure.
The man began his duties following the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005, where he appeared in an old film entitled “Al-Qassam Brigades hosted by Venice,” filmed by Tel Aviv Tribune that year, and whose broadcast was delayed until 2014.
However, Abu Ubaida gained fame in 2006, when he announced the news that the Palestinian resistance had captured the Israeli soldier, Gilad Shalit.
“Abu Ubaida” has become an icon that the Al-Qassam Brigades rely on to deliver their messages with great effectiveness and competence, which makes him one of the important features that Hamas possesses, and helps it implement its plans and goals.
The observer can notice that his recorded or photographed messages are highly professional and professional. The Al-Qassam Brigades are also keen to give their spokesman great credibility, by being keen to publish reliable information and avoiding intimidation, as well as being keen to publish pictures and videos confirming the authenticity of his messages.
Israel feels the great power that the character of “Abu Ubaida” gives to the Hamas movement, so it is working to destroy it, and its efforts to “harm him” began in 2014, when it claimed to have revealed his identity, in an attempt to diminish his “symbolism” and confine it to a specific person, called “ Hudhayfah Al-Kahlot.
With the reappearance of “Abu Ubaida” in the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood with his strong messages, Israel returned to repeating the same story and saying that it was able to reveal his character. It also stated that it had bombed his house located in the Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip.
In this regard, the spokesman for the occupation army, Avichay Adraee, published on his accounts on social networks at the beginning of the war a picture of a young Palestinian man accompanied by a comment saying, “Urgent, this is the so-called Hudhayfah Kahlot, who is hiding behind the nickname Abu Ubaida, and he is also hiding behind his red keffiyeh (..) Huzaifa Kahlout, you have become exposed. It is time to stop covering up.”
Abu Ubaida usually neglects to respond to the occupation army’s propaganda in this regard.
Ashraf Al-Qudra
With remarkable courage, and without concern for the Israeli tanks that were surrounding Al-Shifa Hospital and bombing its buildings, the media spokesman for the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Ashraf Al-Qudra, continued to raise his voice, recounting the statistics he collects every day about the total Palestinian human losses as a result of the aggression.
After his work moved to Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, Al-Qudra continued his mission, with the same previous enthusiasm.
Ashraf Al-Qudra was born in 1973 in the city of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip. He is married and the father of four children.
He obtained a bachelor’s degree in physical therapy and rehabilitation from the University of Karachi in Pakistan, and a master’s degree in administration and policy from the Palestinian Al-Quds University.
He previously worked as director of the Al-Rahma Center for Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, and director of hotel services in the ministry.
Al-Qudra has an activity parallel to his government work, as he chairs the Board of Directors of the Future Polytechnic Institute.
Mounir Al-Bursh
The Director General of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Munir Al-Bursh, emerged during the war as one of the most important faces fighting the occupation and exposing its crimes, despite the severe risks facing him, especially during the siege of Al-Shifa Hospital.
After his forced exit from Shifa, Al-Barsh continued his “medical” struggle, as he went to hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip, especially the Indonesian Hospital and Kamal Adwan Hospital, and the voice of Gaza continued to warn of the danger of hospitals being out of service to the wounded and the population.
Munir Al-Bursh was born in 1971, in the town of Jabalia, in the northern Gaza Strip, where he received his basic education. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in pharmacy from Iași University, Romania, then obtained a master’s degree in health management and policy from the Palestinian Al-Quds University.
Before assuming the position of Director General of the Ministry of Health, Al-Barsh held several government positions, including the position of Director General of Pharmacy for 12 years.
Al-Borsh is also famous for his extensive community and charitable activities, as he chairs the Board of Directors of the National Society for Development, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Nama Foundation for Development and Development, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nama College of Science and Technology, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Nama Sports Club, and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Holy Quran House in Jabalia. And former director of the Office of the International Forum for Islamic Youth.
Al-Bursh is married with 8 children, and is fluent in Arabic, Romanian, and English.
Among Al-Borsh’s remarkable positions was his mourning of his nephew, Anas, who was killed by an Israeli bombing, in an interview with Tel Aviv Tribune, where he was surprised to see him as a “martyr” before the interview began.
Muhammad Abu Salmiya
Despite the massive psychological warfare carried out by Israel against Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, and the claim that it contains the headquarters of the Hamas movement, its general director was not intimidated by these methods, rejecting the occupation army’s orders to evacuate it.
Until his arrest on November 23, 2023, Abu Salamiya remained “steadfast,” despite the siege, the bombing of buildings, and the accumulation of bodies in the hospital courtyard, conveying to the world, through telephone conversations with the media, a picture of the tragic events experienced by the wounded, sick, and displaced people trapped in “Al-Shifa.”
Abu Salmiya was born in 1973, in Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City. He is married and has 4 children.
He studied medicine in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, at Bogomolets National Medical University, specializing in pediatrics, then returned to the Gaza Strip in 1998. He obtained the Palestinian Board of Pediatrics in 2013.
In 2000, Abu Salmiya worked as a doctor at the Gaza European Hospital, then he assumed the position of medical director of Al-Nasr Children’s Hospital in 2007. In 2015, he took over the management of Al-Rantisi Children’s Hospital, and in 2019, he became director of Al-Shifa Medical Complex.
Abu Salamiya worked on the development and renaissance of Al-Shifa Hospital, where it became able to deal with major, highly skilled surgical operations that had previously been referred outside the Gaza Strip.
Safety is known
Through his daily appearance, the head of the government media office, Salama Marouf, emerged as the “voice of Gaza,” monitoring all the crimes and massacres launched by Israel, in addition to the repercussions of the aggression in all fields.
In an attempt to draw the world’s attention to the crimes of the occupation, Marouf did not hesitate to carry the body of a child martyr during one of his daily press conferences, asking the international community why this child was deprived of his right to life.
Marouf continued to perform his mission until the occupation army stormed Al-Shifa Hospital and made his wild wanderings into Gaza City, after which he was not able to continue his work.
Marouf was born in Cairo in 1977, where he received his basic education. He is married and the father of 5 children. He returned with his family to Gaza in 1994, and obtained a bachelor’s degree in media from the Islamic University in 1999, and a master’s degree from the same university in 2016.
He began his journalistic work as editor of Al-Sahel magazine between 1998-1999, then he was appointed an employee in the Ministry of Information in mid-2000.
Marouf became Director General of the Government Media Office in 2007, then its President since 2017, and has many union and community activities, as he was on the boards of directors of Al-Resala and Palestine newspapers, and Al-Aqsa Media Network.
Marouf has conducted a number of research and studies in the field of media, and he published a book entitled “The Reality of Palestinian Journalists’ Access to Information.”
Ismail Al-Thawabta
When the voice of the head of the government media office, Salama Maarouf, was absent, following the ground incursion into Gaza City, Ismail Al-Thawabta, the general director of the office, carried the banner, taking the Central Governorate as his headquarters.
Al-Thawabeta monitors all the crimes of the occupation at all levels, human and material, and broadcasts them through a daily message to the world.
Al-Thawabta was born in 1979 in the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip. He is married and the father of 5 children.
In 2001, he obtained a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the Islamic University of Gaza, and in 2020, he obtained a master’s degree from the same university.
He began his journalistic work as a correspondent for many different media outlets, and after working in the government media office in 2006, he headed the government newspaper Al-Rai, until he was appointed to the position of director general of the office.
Al-Thawabta has a community activity, as he has headed the charitable youth initiative since 2013. He has many publications, including a printed book entitled: “Cracked Walls,” and an under-print book titled “Lead Talk.”
Wael Al-Dahdouh
Wael Al-Dahdouh was born in 1970, in the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood of Gaza City, and has been working as a correspondent for Al-Jazeera satellite channel in the Gaza Strip since 2004, through which he has emerged as one of the most important media figures who convey the truth about the horrific crimes taking place during the current war.
Al-Dahdouh had his share of Israeli crimes, by targeting his family and killing 14 of its members, including his wife and two of his children, on October 25, 2023, as a result of an Israeli bombing that targeted a house where they had taken refuge in the Nuseirat camp.
Despite the great loss, Al-Dahdouh did not stop covering, and his voice remained present, conveying through Al-Jazeera to the world the truth about the crimes committed by Israel against civilians in Gaza. He was injured in an Israeli bombing on Friday, December 15, 2023, in which fellow Tel Aviv Tribune photographer Samer Abu Daqqa was martyred.
Al-Dahdouh earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and media from the Islamic University of Gaza in 1998, and a master’s degree in regional studies from Al-Quds University in 2007.
Al-Dahdouh began his media work as a correspondent for the Palestinian newspaper Al-Quds, then as a correspondent for Voice of Palestine from Tehran, as well as for the Sahar satellite channel at the beginning of the Al-Aqsa Intifada in 2000. He also worked as a correspondent for Al-Arabiya in 2003, then moved to work as a correspondent and bureau chief for Al-Jazeera in the Gaza Strip since 2004.
The Belgian magazine “Knak” chose Al-Dahdouh, the journalistic personality of the year 2023, and devoted 6 pages of the annual issue to tell part of Wael’s story and his sacrifices to convey the truth.
Under the title “Journalists are targeted in Gaza,” the magazine described Wael Al-Dahdouh as “the man who became the focus of the news after he was reporting it,” after his family was targeted.
Anas Al-Sharif
When the occupation forces forcibly excluded the media from coverage in the northern Gaza Strip governorate, journalist Anas Al-Sharif emerged, bearing the burden of exposing Israel’s crimes and massacres against the population, indifferent to the great danger facing him and his family.
It was clear how disturbing Al-Sharif’s coverage of the occupation and his revelation of its crimes caused him, and so he was threatened via phone call and asked to leave the area to the south of the Gaza Strip, which he was refused.
In what appears to be punishment for his media role, the occupation bombed his house on December 11, 2023, which caused the martyrdom of his father. Despite this, Al-Sharif continued to perform his media mission.
Anas Al-Sharif was born in Jabalia Camp in December 1996. He is married and has a daughter.
He obtained a bachelor’s degree in radio and television from Al-Aqsa University in Gaza, and began working as a freelance journalist in 2014, covering events in Gaza City and its north.
In 2018, Al-Sharif became prominent in covering the marches of return and breaking the siege, which were organized near the border fence between the Gaza Strip and Israel, cooperating with Arab and international press sites and news agencies.
In May 2021, he covered the “Sword of Jerusalem” battle fought by the Palestinian resistance against Israel.
During the 2023 Israeli aggression, Al-Sharif began working for Tel Aviv Tribune satellite channel to cover events in northern Gaza.
Ismail Al-Ghoul
Like his predecessor Anas Al-Sharif, journalist Ismail Al-Ghoul filled a great void caused by the practices of the occupation forces in Gaza City, which was almost devoid of local and international media.
Despite the imminent dangers, and while people were searching for ways to escape from the occupation’s shells, the ghoul was searching for information from the mouths of “death,” documenting the event using his simple capabilities, and sending it to Tel Aviv Tribune satellite channel to broadcast it to the world.
Al-Ghoul was born in 1997 in Al-Shati refugee camp, north of Gaza City. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the Islamic University, and began his work in the field of print journalism as a correspondent for the local Al-Resala and Palestine newspapers.
Then, Al-Ghoul turned to television work through his work with several media production companies in Gaza.
With the outbreak of the “Al-Aqsa Flood,” he began cooperating with Al-Jazeera satellite channel in transmitting news via telephone conversations, before he began preparing television reports.
