Body of 19-year-old Gaza journalist found in pieces after weeks of threats

Hassan Hamad, a 19-year-old Palestinian journalist, was killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza on October 6, weeks after receiving “threatening messages” from an Israeli officer.

His house was targeted during heavy Israeli bombardment of the Jabalia refugee camp, which claimed the lives of at least 17 people in the third ground assault on the densely populated camp since October 7, 2023.

Hamad's colleagues stated that his home was deliberately targeted after he received threats on his WhatsApp.

Another journalist Maha Hussaini shared screenshots of the messages Hamad received days before his killing:

“Listen, If you continue spreading lies about Israel, we’ll come for you next and turn your family into […] This is your last warning,” read one of the screenshots Hamad reportedly shared with Hussaini.

His colleague reported that Hamad refused to comply with repeated calls from the Israeli officer ordering him to stop filming in Gaza.

“At 6 am, he called me to send his last video. After a call that didn’t last more than a few seconds, he said, ‘There they are, there they are, it’s done,’ and hung up,” his friend wrote in a post on X.

Mohammed Hamad, the slain journalist’s brother, said that he could only identify Hassan by his hair, as so little remained of his body after the attack.

"This is what remains of his body," another of his colleagues posted, sharing a video in which a man was seen carrying plastic bags and a press vest. Several reports stated that his body was found in pieces and had to be collected.

Before the attack, Mahmoud deliberately stayed away from his family to avoid putting them at risk, according to a post shared by his friend on X.

“He endured the pain of an injury to his leg, yet continued filming. At 6 am, he called me to send his last video…,” the post read.

In one of his final posts, Hamad reported a bombing on the Jabalia camp that killed six people, including a man who married just a week ago.

Hamad is the 175th Palestinian journalist killed in a year, according to Gaza's Government Media Office.

Some of the repeated instances of intentional targeting of journalists by the Israeli military have become part of a complaint submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC) by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), according to IFJ's website.

In the past year, Israel's genocidal war on Gaza killed nearly 42,000 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children, with more than 97,000 others injured.