On the morning of 3rd December 2023, at least two civilians were killed when an alleged Israeli airstrike hit the al-Hajjaj family home in the al-Shuja’iya neighborhood, east of Gaza City. The victims were identified as 27 year old writer and novelist Nour al-Din Hajjaj, and Hamza Haider Hajjaj.

In a Facebook post, user Ahmed Ayyad stated that the alleged bombing on Nour’s house was carried out by Israeli warplanes in the morning, stating “a short while ago, the honourable young man, creative writer and novelist Nour al-Din Hajjaj was martyred.” In an announcement posted to their Facebook page, the Palestinian Ministry of Culture alleged that Nour “was born in Gaza on January 31, 1996” and “completed his university studies in Mathematics and Computers.” It said he was killed “in an Israeli raid, as a result of the continuous bombing of the Gaza Strip.” The Hajjaj Family Gathering page on Facebook posted the names of Nour, and Hamza Haider Hajjaj, saying that the “Hajjaj family is still bidding farewell to its children…the eyes shed tears and the heart grieves, and I am saddened by your separation.”

In the post by the Palestinian Ministry of Culture, it was revealed that Nour, who worked as a teacher at the Carmel Secondary School for Boys in Gaza City, was an active part of many cultural initiatives including the Shagaf Cultural Initiative, the Cordoba Gathering, and the Theater Days Foundation. Furthermore, he had “published two novels, the first of which was entitled “Strange and Strange” in 2018 by Al-Kalima Publishing House in Cairo.” Al Araby News and The Literary Hub added that the second novel Nour wrote was titled “Wings That Do Not Fly”, published in 2021 by Fadaat Publishing House in Jordan, and that Nour was the author of the play The Gray Ones (2022). An image of Nour shared by Facebook user Amal Hada showed him smiling, holding a Palestinian Oud (stringed instrument), with the caption “Martyr poet and writer Nour El-Din Hajjaj.”

Friends and family wrote heartfelt messages on social media mourning the death of Nour al-Din Hajjaj. Yahya M al Qassas shared an image of Nour and himself at their graduation ceremony, smiling with joy and posing with a thumbs-up, attired in their ceremonial robes and hats. Yahya described Nour as his “beloved friend..a long-distance companion and classmate”, and as “the writer and intellectual.” Ahmed Ayyad wrote that he met Nour for the first time in Cairo a year ago, and in the time they spent together Nour spoke “about life in Gaza, about his literary journey, and about his dreams for the world of writing and creativity.” Sharing an image of the two of them standing together, Nour – a smiling young man in a yellow jacket, Ahmed bid him farewell, saying “a young man who had a beautiful dream of becoming a famous writer. May God have mercy on you, my dear beloved.”

Twitter user @alijla2021 shared a photo of Nour, a young man with a gentle smile, wearing a black shirt. The comment read ‘A shocking murder of a young, brilliant Palestinian mind. He had an amazing future ahead as a novelist and writer. He was murdered in his home in Shejaia yesterday, along with dozens of his relatives. One of his last words…“You run away from a rocket behind you, only to be caught by another in front of you. In Gaza, there are no longer four directions, because all of them now overlook the same scene, which is ‘destruction”’ Other friends and relatives described Nour as “dear brother and friend…the educated poet”, “the good, kind, easy-going, gentle, contented, chaste, and calm friend”, “I heard nothing but politeness and respect from him”, and “friend and colleague.” Oday Alaa posted “today’s shocking news / Dear heart, Nour al-Din Hajjaj Shahid / God bless his soul….Yes, he was a brother, friend, and classmate / Goodbye, Habib / Two days ago, you talked to me.”

Mohemed jemil al hazazeen announced the death of Hamza Haider Jajjaj and Nour al-Din Hajjaj on Facebook, sharing two photos alongside a comment that read ‘To the mercy and satisfaction of God, loved ones and life-long neighbors’. In a photo Hamza is depicted as a teenager wearing a turquoise hoodie smiling toward the camera – Mohamed describes him as “the beloved, gallant neighbour Hamza.” Nour is shown sitting at a table in a gray blazer and a silk neck scarf, with the Keffiyeh pattern, speaking into a microphone.

The Literary Hub commemorated Nour al-Din Hajjaj in a post, sharing his final message which was further shared by many on social media.  It read “This is why I am writing now; it might be my last message that makes it out to the free world, flying with the doves of peace to tell them that we love life, or at least what life we have managed to live; in Gaza all paths before us are blocked, and instead we’re just one tweet or breaking news story away from death. / Anyway, I’ll begin. / My name is Nour al-Din Hajjaj, I am a Palestinian writer, I am twenty-seven years old and I have many dreams. / I am not a number and I do not consent to my death being passing news. Say, too, that I love life, happiness, freedom, children’s laughter, the sea, coffee, writing, Fairouz, everything that is joyful – though these things will all disappear in the space of a moment’ / One of my dreams is for my books and my writings to travel the world, for my pen to have wings so that no unstamped passport or visa rejection can hold it back. / Another dream of mine is to have a small family, to have a little son who looks like me and to tell him a bedtime story as I rock him in my arms.”.

Where sources identified a belligerent, all sources attributed the incident to Israeli forces.

The incident occured in the morning.