want to introduce two Palestinian photojournalists who have deeply inspired me, and who I hope to meet someday. I have been lucky enough to come in contact with Adel Al-Hawajri and Hosni Salah via Instagram and WhatsApp where they have shared over 200 photos with ScheerPost. The contrast could not be more stark between my position, a journalist working from the comfort of my own home, and theirs, journalists targeted by the state of Israel, journalists whose entire homeland has been reduced to rubble, journalists who cannot simply close an application on their phones and escape the daily horrors in Gaza.

Al-Hawajri and Salah live in the besieged Gaza Strip and work together as photographers. Since digitally meeting them, Al-Hawajri and Salah haven’t left my thoughts, serving as inspiration when I took part in antiwar protests in Los Angeles and experienced violent encounters with police on my campus. I found it difficult to enjoy the graduation festivities this year as the university administration did everything except recognize the reason why there is nationwide tension on campuses, or acknowledge the lives that have been lost since October. Throughout the school year, I focused my thoughts on the countless Palestinian students who will never take another breath, let alone walk across a stage to accept a diploma.

The two photographers are no strangers to the suffering I have watched through my phone screen for the last few years, and especially in the last eight months. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, Israel has killed 111 journalists and media workers in Gaza while many others are missing or have been injured or arrested.

Despite the extremely high risk that comes with practicing journalism under Israeli occupation and bombardment, Hwarje and Salah continue to put their lives on the line in order to document their reality.

Al-Hawajri and Salah have been targeted by the occupation due to their work, first through bulldozing and a blockade of Al-Hawajri’s house, and later the bombing of both of their houses where all of their belongings, as well as their beloved homes, were lost. The Israeli blockades made work for the two of them extremely difficult, and the following airstrikes destroyed nearly all of their camera equipment used to document the genocide that the Palestinian people are experiencing.

Al-Hawajri wrote to me, “I would also like, if you can do so, to shed light through you on what we lost in this war, including our homes and equipment, which were like our souls to us.”

From November 29, 2023 to March 14, 2024, I did not receive any messages – or notification that my messages had even gotten through – from Salah. When he finally responded, he told me how his home had been hit by an airstrike and that they had been without reception for that period of time. For roughly three and a half months, Salah was unable to communicate with his loved ones as the assaults only grew more intense and the famine more widespread.

The ruins of Hosni Salah’s home in the Gaza Strip. By Hosni Salah from March 14, 2024.

Although the cause of this lack of service during this exact period cannot be determined for certain, the U.S. State Department has reported on IDF-sponsored blackouts in Gaza. During these Israeli sponsored outages, which continue today, text notifications regarding locations of incoming airstrikes and safe zones are sent, but obviously not received, creating even more terrifying conditions. Additionally, the destruction of infrastructure in Gaza is so widespread that lack of service is almost inevitable.

Still, despite the gruesome scenes, unreliable access to the Internet and horrific airstrikes, Al-Hawajri and Salah shared many photos from the beginning of the bombardment. It is important to note that these photos come from the end of October and beginning of November, so the conditions have only become more dire since then. These photos have not been published by any large media outlet and many have never been seen before.

The two photographers’ self-written biographies follow (with small translation clarifications in brackets):

Al-Hawjri [@adelhwajre on Instagram]: “I am Adel Al-Hawajri, 29, from the Gaza Strip. I have been working as a photojournalist since the beginning of 2014. I practiced the profession of journalism in the most difficult circumstances, as I began … with the 2014 Gaza War. To this day, I do not remember that I practiced it as it should be, just general events, like any journalist in the world. I practiced it during these years in a touch of danger. In all these years, I was exposed to bombing and danger, unlike the rest, journalists in the world who are in their offices and have their place in the world. I was injured in many places during my journalistic experience, all for the sake of my Palestinian cause first and also for my love of photography in all its forms.”

Adel Al-Hawajri poses with his Camera.

The two journalists together with Hosni Salah on the right, Adel Al-Hawajri on the left.

Salah [@hosnysalah on Instagram]: “I am Hosni Salah, 31, a Palestinian journalist and photographer who is pursuing [my] passion amidst all this suffering, despite the catastrophic situation. As heartbreaking as it is for Palestinians, [I try] to show this oppression digitally on social media to the world through [my] performance. Risky for [me], but also an opportunity to make the world realize the urgency of [our] situation.”

It is not completely clear which photos are taken by Salah, and which are taken by Hwarje, but they are partners in work. Due to their situation, they were unable to go through all that has been shared and claim which ones each of them took, but Salah was able to confirm the images that look to be inside of a medical facility are from Al-Aqsa Hospital. They both individually, and collectively, have agreed to ScheerPost sharing their work. Below are just a few of the photos shared, with more to come.

Please be warned that many of these images are extremely graphic.

October 16, 2023

October 21, 2023

October 22, 2023

October 23, 2023

October 24, 2023

October 31, 2023

November 2, 2023