Gaza woman heads media outlet after Israel kills owner, her husband

On a mid-January morning, Shrouq Aila, a 29-year-old Palestinian woman from the Tel Al Hawa neighbourhood in war-torn Gaza City, sent out several emails to the family-owned Ain Media’s business contacts, journalists and subscribers.

Inspiring solidarity with the Palestinian cause, she wrote: “We are still here, still alive, and committed to continuing our work to document the situation in Gaza and support local journalists, which is more important than ever”.

And with that, she stepped up to oversee the company’s operations.

Instead of conventional sign-offs like 'kind regards' or 'best wishes', typical of corporate emails, Shrouq ended the email writing, 'In grief and solidarity'.

Two weeks into Israel’s war on Gaza, on October 22, an Israeli missile targeted Shrouq's home in north Gaza. She was having breakfast with her husband Roshdi and their one-year-old daughter Doniya. The strike killed 31-year-old Roshdi, injuring the mother and daughter.

Like many Palestinians, Shrouq felt that grieving has turned into a privilege amidst the harrowing realities of war. She's yet to mourn her loss.

In an interview with TRT World, Shrouq shares the challenges she faces as a single parent and manager of Gaza’s major media company amidst the constant barrage of Israeli airstrikes.

“Every day is a struggle for survival, and we keep losing someone dear, someone who means the world to somebody else,” Shrouq laments. “Being constantly under attack leaves you no room to process your loss and your emotions”.

Before the war, running Ain Media was her husband Roshdi Sarraj’s responsibility. Shrouq supported their projects as a researcher. “I am resolved to continue what Roshdi used to do,” Shrouq explains. "To falter now would betray his memory and our shared vision.”

Legacy of resilience

The well-known photojournalist and filmmaker Roshdi was dedicated to documenting the love Palestinians have for life through his camera. Sharing this passion with his childhood friend Yaser Murtaja, they started Ain Media in 2012 as a youth project that won a scholarship, providing them with just enough funds to buy their first professional camera.

Shrouq remarks that the company is the fruit of Roshdi and Yaser’s decade-long effort. “So, it is more like a child now, brought up with many struggles and care. You cannot just leave this child, you have to keep taking care of it,” she says.

In 2018, Murtaja was killed by an Israeli sniper. The bullet cut through his press vest while he was covering the Great March of Return, which sought the return of Palestinian refugees to the lands and properties Israelis stole and occupied since 1947. Roshdi took it upon himself to continue running the company.

“He believed that they had a message to convey”, Shrouq says, recounting his persistence in reporting on Gaza.

Today, Shrouq keeps the torch lit, believing in the importance of carrying her husband’s legacy and spreading his message, along with all journalists who have been targeted.

She says Roshdi firmly believed that as a journalist, it was not optional but a duty to be in the field during escalation, war, and conflict, filming and working tirelessly to convey the situation to the world.

“He believed so much in teamwork and that with each other’s support, we could handle everything”, she adds. However, one of the biggest challenges Shrouq faces now is the shortage of staff at Ain Media.

Since October 7, Roshdi and another colleague, 21-year-old Palestinian journalist Ibrahim Lafi, have been killed by Israeli forces. Ibrahim was covering the situation from the Erez border crossing and was wearing his distinct press vest and helmet on October 8 when he was fatally shot.

Additionally, two of their colleagues, Nidal Alwaheidi and Haitham Abdelwahed, are missing. Shrouq says that they don't know whether they have been killed or kidnapped.

“All of my colleagues are afraid for their families, for losing them because it's very obvious that they are being systematically targeted in this war, which is illegal, with over 120 journalists killed by Israeli forces”, she states, underscoring the unprecedented concentration of journalists killed by Israel.

“The freedom of the press we used to hear about feels like a joke; it does not exist. If you are carrying a camera, you are carrying a weapon. So, is a camera considered a weapon?” Shrouq asks.

Arrival in Rafah

Despite the losses of their team members, Shrouq and the Ain Media team try to continue their services and carry forward their legacies but struggle with displacement and the lack of equipment. With Ain Media’s headquarters in North Gaza destroyed, Shrouq faces the daunting task of continuing operations amidst scarcity and danger in the south.

“My daughter and I miraculously survived the attack on our house in North Gaza without injuries. We only had a few scratches”, Shrouq says.

After their house was destroyed, Shrouq and her daughter evacuated to her sister’s house. Shortly after their arrival, Israeli forces bombed the neighbouring house. Shrouq says that the rubble of this house fell upon them.

“We made it out of the rubbles once again,” Shrouq recounts, “and we survived twice.”

Amid the constant drone of Israeli aircraft overhead, called “zanana” in Arabic, and relentless pounding in North Gaza, Shrouq knew that she could not risk a third time. On top of that, they had run out of options for evacuation.

“All of the relatives’ houses, whether they are bombed, totally or partially destroyed, or located in a dangerous area, so we already didn’t have any options”, she says.

Displaced for the second time, Shrouq and Doniya, along with over one million other Palestinians, based on the Israeli army’s instructions on “safe zones”, evacuated North Gaza and headed to Rafah, thinking that the south would be safer.

However, constant airstrikes could be heard in the background while Shrouq spoke to TRT World, describing how everyone looks death in the eye in the southern city.

“There is no safe area, we are under threat all the time,” she says. “When it comes to filming, we are not able to move between the governorates of the Gaza Strip because of the attacks and because there is no fuel in all of Gaza”, Shrouq says, adding that their company car was totally destroyed during the attacks.

Currently, two-thirds of Gaza’s population has been pushed to the southernmost corner of the Palestinian enclave, where the Israeli army has announced its plans to expand its ground invasion.

Shrouq describes the weight of despair as she grapples with the news of the impending invasion.

“Every day, I cling to the hope that this war is going to end very soon. However, lately, that hope feels like a burden weighing heavily on my heart. I stopped following the news because it is exhausting to hear that you are close to the end, that they are going to invade Rafah as they did in the North.”

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that an Israeli offensive in Rafah would greatly harm the already completely insufficient humanitarian assistance in Gaza.

"An all-out Israeli offensive on the city would not only be terrifying for more than a million Palestinian civilians sheltering there; it would put the final nail in the coffin of our aid programs," he said.

‘Back in history’

Nearly 1.5 Palestinians are crammed into the 64 square kilometres city of Rafah and are living in dire need of humanitarian aid as a “man-made” famine looms in the besieged enclave.

Shrouq says they have had limited access to essential humanitarian needs such as water, food, hygiene, shelter, medical supplies, and electricity since October 7.

“When the war started, we almost had summer weather here, but now it is winter, cold, and rainy, and we are displaced. So, we escaped our destroyed homes with nothing with us. Forget about myself, but I need heavy clothes for my daughter,” she says.

Essential needs for her 1-year-old daughter, such as diapers, wet wipes and food with high nutritional and vitamins, are scarce due to the Israeli siege.

The Israeli army has blocked the delivery of essential aid that can avert the famine and severe malnutrition in more than two million Palestinians who suffer on the other side of the Rafah border crossing, while thousands of aid trucks are lined up on the Egyptian side, waiting to enter Gaza.

Al Jazeera TV reported that on February 22, more than 2,000 aid trucks, each carrying around 20 tonnes of aid, stacked on the Egyptian side of the southern city of Rafah.

“It feels like we are back in history, like we are living the Nakba again and returning to the 1940s,” she says.

“We are forced to resort to traditional methods and manual methods to meet our needs with what we can find, like pumping water into tanks on our roof due to electricity shortages or using wood fire, which is unhealthy, to cook due to gas shortages”.

But Shrouq remains resolute in her mission, determined to honour Roshdi’s legacy despite patchy internet connection, electricity and fuel outages, looming famine and an impending ground invasion, risking her life to document the unfolding catastrophe and the relentless war.

“It is his legacy and our vision and dreams. And I am committed to continuing and honouring,” she says. " It is not just a company.”

“I'm honoured that he left us with a legacy for our daughter and me,” Shrouq continues, her voice cracking under the weight of emotions.

Since its foundation, the company has produced news and reports for international media outlets and organisations such as Al Jazeera, BBC and UNICEF. They have also won numerous awards but could not receive them as they were not allowed to leave Gaza.

Most importantly, Ain Media has groomed a new generation of journalists, some of them well-known names, who will continue to keep the torch of unbiased news reporting ablaze despite the hardships under Israeli occupation.