In a grim reminder that the ink on Gaza’s hard-won ceasefire is barely dry, Palestinian journalist Saleh Aljafarawi, 28, was gunned down Sunday while documenting deadly clashes in the city’s Sabra neighborhood.
The rising star of war reporting – known for his raw social media dispatches on Israel’s devastating two-year assault – fell victim to an “armed militia” accused of ties to Israel, as factional violence erupts in the power vacuum left by withdrawing Israeli forces.
Aljafarawi, who amassed a global following for videos capturing Gaza’s rubble-strewn agony and fleeting moments of joy amid the genocide that claimed over 238,000 Palestinian lives, was found lifeless in his “press” flak jacket, slumped on the back of a truck. Verified footage from Al Jazeera’s Sanad unit shows his body amid the debris, missing since early Sunday.
Palestinian sources described the attack occurring as Hamas security forces besieged the militia – identified by some as the Doghmush clan or Israel-linked gangs – amid skirmishes that also killed several displaced families returning north.
The Gaza Government Media Office decried the slaying as “a direct result of Israel’s policy of targeting Palestinian journalists through both air strikes and proxy militias.”
Over 270 media workers have perished in Gaza since October 2023, making it the deadliest conflict for the press on record.
Grief rippled through Gaza’s journalistic ranks. Colleague Mohamed Shahen, sharing video of Aljafarawi’s body, lamented: “Every day is a new loss and a new goodbye, another sadness – even though the Israeli military has stopped this war but what is left from this army and the betrayal of some people.”
He added, “May God have mercy on the hero Saleh al-Jafarawi, who was a pioneer in conveying the suffering and supporting the oppressed.”
The U.S.-brokered truce, inked just days ago, promised hostage releases, aid corridors, and an end to hostilities. Yet reports from Quds News Network claim “Israeli-backed gangs ‘executed’ Palestinian journalist Saleh Aljafrawi,” fueling fears of orchestrated sabotage.
Hamas sources reported arresting 60 militia members, while a Gaza political analyst warned on X that “Israel is attempting to incite civil war in Gaza through its proxy criminal gangs.”
Aljafarawi’s final tweet, posted October 11, brimmed with cautious hope: “We are the people of this land, and we have the right to live on it.”
His death – the first journalist killed post-ceasefire – underscores the perilous fragility of peace in a strip scarred by betrayal and bombs.
As colleagues demand justice, Gaza’s storytellers vow to endure, their pens sharper than ever against the encroaching dark.