On Feb. 15, 2024, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) published images from Gaza’s Al-Shati refugee camp that were seen around the world. Four months after the start of Israel’s war on the Strip following the Hamas attacks of October 7, for many viewers it was the first time they were able to get a true sense of the scale of the destruction in the north of the enclave: dozens of gutted and partially collapsed buildings, the ruins stretching as far as the horizon.
Abdallah Al-Hajj filmed these images by drone. Nine days after they were posted online, on Feb. 24, the Palestinian journalist was maimed in an Israeli airstrike, which killed his 18-year-old nephew and a fisherman. Al-Hajj, who lost both of his legs in the attack, explained that he had worked for UNRWA for over 10 years and is convinced that he was deliberately targeted by the Israeli army multiple times during the current war.
“Two days after I was targeted, my house was hit,” he said. “Why? To destroy the archives [of images I had] accumulated over 20 years from the entire Gaza Strip. Only a few images [now] remain.” …..more
