Multiple journalists posted tweets of anger and grief on X, formerly Twitter, after Israeli forces killed a Palestinian journalist on October 6.
Hassan Hamad was killed in an Israeli airstrike on his home in Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, according to Al Jazeera. Days before, Hamad had alleged he was “warned by an Israeli officer to stop filming in Gaza”.
The journalist was only 19 years old when he was killed.
Just saw the remains of 20-year-old Palestinian journalist Hassan Hamad reduced to a plastic bag and a shoebox. According to a fresh tally from CPJ, 123 journalists have now been killed in Israeli strikes. If you're a journalist and you're not speaking out in solidarity ... why?
— Barry Malone (@malonebarry) October 6, 2024
Hassan Hamad was a 19-year-old Palestinian journalist who tried to document one of the worst crimes of our age in impossible circumstances.
— Owen Jones (@owenjonesjourno) October 6, 2024
The Israeli state threatened to murder him unless he fell silent.
He refused to fall silent. They murdered him. https://t.co/k3Baz7sB6E
Days earlier, journalist Hassan Hamad was threatened with death in a WhatsApp text.
— Samira Mohyeddin سمیرا (@SMohyeddin) October 6, 2024
“If you continue to spread lies against Israel we will soon catch up with you…this is your final warning.” https://t.co/kIazYkiqGn pic.twitter.com/qgkJEhfbFg
I just saw my friend and colleague Hassan Hamad an hour ago Israeli occupation forces have just killed him, and what remains of his body is in pieces in a plastic bag. Why do I have to see my friends in plastic bags? Why is this world so cruel to us?
— حسام شبات (@HossamShabat) October 6, 2024
These are body parts of Hassan Hamad, a 20 year old journalist from Jabalia in northern Gaza. The Israeli military killed him after sending him threats. I will never forget the silence of the media industry about this. https://t.co/PRIwsw6RxL
— Laila Al-Arian (@LailaAlarian) October 6, 2024
In May, Hamad told colleagues he’d received a message saying this was his “last warning” on WhatsApp, as well as “several calls from an Israeli officer”.
Listen, If you continue spreading lies about Israel, we'll come for you next and turn your family into [...] This is your last warning".. Journalist Hassan Hamad received this message on WhatsApp, along with several calls from an Israeli officer ordering him to stop filming in… pic.twitter.com/q6SAzMj5xc
— Maha Hussaini (@MahaGaza) October 6, 2024
Ashraf Mashharawi, the manager of the production company where Hamad worked, told Middle East Monitor that Hamad allegedly received the first message on May 13.
“After that, he received multiple threats over the phone and text messages asking him to stop working. He refused to comply, believing he had done nothing wrong and was simply performing the normal role any journalist would. We advised him to reduce his work, but he completely refused. He said: ‘I won’t be intimidated by the threats. We are in the right and they are in the wrong’,” Mashharawi said.
A colleague later tweeted from Hamad’s account that the journalist “resisted for a whole year in his own special way”.
“He resisted when he was away from his family so that they would not be targeted. He resisted when he was suffering to find an internet signal and would sit for an hour or two on the roof of the house to send videos that reach you in seconds,” the tweet said.
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
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, over 123 Palestinian journalists have been killed by Israeli forces in the past year. Gaza’s government media office places this number at at least 175. More than 41,000 people have been killed in total.
This is why Newslaundry and The News Minute reported from ground zero on Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza. Watch Sreenivasan Jain’s first report from Israel here.
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