Last Monday, I saw several colleagues publish on social networks that the Israeli army had bombed a tent of journalists in front of the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis. The tent caught fire and burned several people alive. A terrifying video appeared showing a journalist named Ahmad Mansour sitting on a chair with his head and chest on fire. People tried to keep him away from the flames, but in vain, and he then succumbed to his USI injuries.
Another tent journalist was my colleague, Hassan Eslayeh, on whom I frequently count for updates and the collection of testimonies for my Mondoweiss Reports. Hassan is generally the first to send me news, video sequences and interviews with people who witnessed bombing in Gaza. But this time, Hassan was the news – and he was also the direct target of the attack.
The Israeli army said in a statement on April 7 that the bombardment had targeted Hassan, describing it as a “Hamas terrorist” and part of the army wing of the organization, the Qassam brigades, in Khan Younis.
The army said Hassan “operates under the cover of a journalist and has a press company”, but is, in fact, a member of the “Khan Yunis brigade” of Hamas “.
“On October 7, he infiltrated Israeli territory and participated in the murderous massacre of Hamas,” said the army, saying that Hassan had “documented and downloaded the images of looting, fire crime and murder on social networks”.
Hassan survived the assassination attempt but was seriously injured and lost two fingers.
“The occupation is trying to erase the image of Palestinian journalists with these false claims that they belong to Hamas and other factions,” Hassan told me by phone from Nasser Hospital.
But this is not the first time that Israel has accused workers of Palestinian civil society – journalists, paramedical paramedics, humanitarian workers – of being affiliated with Hamas or other armed factions in Gaza. Last month, Israel sank that Al Jazeera Mubasher, correspondent and contributor to the news from the site, Hossam Shabat, saying that he was a Hamas agent. Shortly after, the Israeli army killed 15 paramedical paramedics and rescuers in Rafah, wrongly affirming that “at least 6” doctors were Hamas activists. There are many other examples of more than 18 months of genocide.
But during these 18 months, where Hassan is always well known. According to my experience by working with him during this period, he was easily accessible via WhatsApp or a telephone call at any time, always based in the gathering points for journalists and never absent.
Anyone who has even a temporary knowledge of Hamas and how Qassam brigades instantly work how completely the affirmations of the Israeli army are completely inconsistent. But Israel is counting on the ignorance and credulity of people to believe that a devoted journalist who operates on the ground 24/7 also has moonlights as a fighter of Hamas.
“The army accused me of fighting in Khan Younis on October 7, but I covered events in Rafah,” said Hassan, referring to the border fence of Gaza was demolished on October 7. “I don’t belong to any party.
However, Israeli newspapers took the initial complaint from the Israeli army and launched an incentive campaign against Hassan. Several points of sale have published photos and recorded clips from Hassan on October 7 while it document the time when the Palestinian resistance stormed the closeness of the border and burned a tank which was stationed there. They also included a photo of him with the former chief of Hamas Yahya Sinwar.
Hassan’s photo with Sinwar was taken during an event that Hassan covered. Taking a photo with the head of a Palestinian faction in Gaza is commonplace, and something that anyone would do. The non -credible nature of these Israeli claims – or any The Israeli claim – should indicate that all that the Israeli army said must be treated with extreme skepticism.
“They do what they accuse us of doing”
At the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, Hassan was not awake for a long time before he was overcome by pain and a headache caused by a fractured skull, fingers amputated on his right hand, injuries with bursts of buses and various burns on his body. Another journalist from my team with Hassan, Ibrahim Muharab, accessed the Hassan hospital room and put it on the phone with me on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m.
His voice was tired, but his minds were raised. I asked him questions about the claim of the Israeli army, and he laughed that he was not surprised by the accusations. “The majority of Israeli journalists who entered Gaza under the protection of the army participated in the destruction of the houses of the Palestinian families,” he said. “All of this is documented in video and audio. The faces and names of these Israeli journalists are well known and they Do what they accuse us of doing. »»
Each accusation is a confession. In October 2024, the Israeli journalist Danny Kushmaro participated in the demolition of a house in a village in southern Lebanon – and turned by doing it for a channel report 12. After pressing the button that exploded the house, he signed by saying: “Do not joke with the Jews.”
It is difficult for Hassan to talk a lot because of his injuries, but he tells me that he hopes to recover quickly and return to work that Israel tries to prevent him from doing.
But Hassan knows that there is now a target on the back, just as Israel put six journalists on a success list last October. One of them was Hospi Shabat.
Hassan also knows that the Israeli army has no problem bombing hospitals or schools when they want to target a specific person. Nasser Hospital, where Hassan is currently treated, has been targeted in recent weeks when a member of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Barhoum, asked for treatment at the medical center. The strike killed Barhoum and a 16 -year -old boy.
“It would not be difficult for the occupation of assassiating me again, in particular with the growing incentive that I hear and that I see against myself,” said Hassan. “They can target me inside the hospital in this room. What can I do? ”
“I don’t fight. I work and I support my profession, ”continued Hassan. “If the Israeli army kills me, the photos I have taken and the stories I told in the world will live. My name, my cause and my voice will live – and the occupation will die. “
