A young Palestinian journalist whose courage in documenting life under siege cost him his life.
Saleh Aljafarawi, born in 1997 in Gaza City, was a young Palestinian journalist and content creator. Little is known about his education, but sources agree that he began his independent documentation work around 2019, at a time when traditional journalism in Gaza was becoming increasingly restricted. With the outbreak of the conflict between Hamas and Israel in 2023, Aljafarawi became one of the most recognized voices documenting daily life in the Gaza Strip, sharing images, testimonies, and videos on social media — especially on Instagram, where he gathered millions of followers.
His videos showed destruction, rescue efforts after bombings, the faces of survivors, and the hardships of civilians trapped in the war. This made him a key reference for many international outlets, which often used his footage as direct material from the ground. At the same time, his popularity and independence exposed him to enormous risks. In February 2024, he was injured by shrapnel in his hand during an Israeli drone strike while helping evacuate medical staff near Khan Younis.
Despite his injuries and ongoing threats, he continued his work, stating that every day spent documenting the war was a day he risked his life, but that he could not stop showing the world what was happening in his homeland. After more than a year of unrelenting conflict, Gaza remained deeply unstable even in the days following the ceasefire announced in the autumn of 2025.
On October 12, 2025, Aljafarawi was killed in the Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City during clashes between local armed groups and Hamas-affiliated forces. He was wearing a vest marked “PRESS” and a helmet, clearly identifiable as a journalist. According to testimonies from his father and colleagues present at the scene, he was filming the destruction of buildings hit during the war when he was struck by gunfire. The incident occurred amid ongoing instability and violent internal confrontations between Palestinian factions following the partial withdrawal of the Israeli army.
His death provoked strong reactions throughout the journalistic world. Organizations such as the Committee to Protect Journalists called for an independent investigation, noting that Gaza has become the deadliest place for journalists since the late twentieth century. Human rights lawyers and activists also urged the International Criminal Court and the United Nations to investigate his killing.
Just days after his death, his Instagram account — which had about 4.5 million followers — was deleted by Meta. This sparked outrage among his supporters and fellow journalists, who denounced the loss of a valuable visual archive of the war and the daily lives of Palestinian civilians.
The story of Saleh Aljafarawi represents that of a generation of journalists born and raised amid conflict, who used the internet as a tool for testimony and resistance. His death — occurring not during an Israeli airstrike but amid internal clashes — reveals the fragility of press freedom in a land torn apart by war and political fragmentation. His work remains a symbol of civic courage and dedication to truth in one of the most dangerous places in the world for those who strive to tell it.
