On Sunday, November 19th 2023, two civilians, including prominent journalist Bilal Jadallah, were killed in an alleged Israeli strike on a car on Salah al-Din Road, near the Salah Mosque, in the Zeitoun neighbourhood, in Gaza City.
Bilal Jadallah, or ‘Abu Muhammad’, a Palestinian journalist and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Press House was killed while driving in his car, fleeing to the south based on orders from the Israeli military, according to X/Twitter, in what was called a ‘direct bombardment’ and ‘targeting’ of his vehicle by a number of outlets and individuals.
Abdel Karim Muhammad Abed, Bilal’s brother-in-law, was also in the car when the alleged strike took place. Initially, he was thought to be injured in the airstrike. Zakaria Mahmood posted on Facebook an appeal asking if anyone had seen him after he was transported to an unknown hospital after being injured in the strike. On the 25th of November, 6 days after the strike, his family finally received word that he had died from his injuries. Saleh Jadallah posted on social media that: “All the testimonies we obtained indicate that my beloved brother-in-law, the pharmacist Dr. Abdel Karim Muhammad Abed, was martyred and his body was buried inside the Indonesian Hospital. The people in the hospital were not able to recognize him, but our consolation is that he is known to the people of heaven.”
Abdel Karim was the head of pharmaceutical control at the General Administration of Pharmacy.
Sources differed about the nature of the strike. Many referred to it as an “airstrike” and one source, @Hind_Gaza, reported that Jadallah was killed by Israeli snipers. However, a number of large news organizations and close relatives of Bilal and Abdel Karim described the car being struck by artillery shelling from an IDF tank.
This information was corroborated by a number of media outlets including Reuters, the Huffington Post, Middle East Eye, SafaPs, Saman News PS, Alghad TV, Pal Sawa News, and many more. The news was then confirmed by his family as stated in a tweet by @HosamSalemG. His death resonated amongst the journalistic community. It came after a series of journalists had already been killed in numerous air raids in the previous days and weeks.
Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, released a statement on the incident, “I deplore the death of Bilal Jadallah. The protection of journalists as civilians is a requirement under international law, including UN Security Council Resolution 2222/2015 on the protection of journalists, media professionals and associated personnel in situations of conflict. I call for a full and transparent investigation to determine the circumstances of this tragedy.”
@CanadaRepPA (Representative Office of Canada to the Palestinian Authority) tweeted condolences stating that Bilal was “a fierce advocate for #pressfreedom, mentoring generations of young reporters. Bilal, a gentle soul, was a friend and partner of Canada. He will be greatly missed.” Many pictures were shared of Bilal speaking at a press conference named the ‘Annual Award for Free Media” Ceremony.
Another post, shared on Facebook by Abu Omar Qandeel reads: “Brother, respected colleague and great journalist Bilal Jadallah Abu Muhammad, director of the Press house, is a martyr”. Noma Hassan posted on Facebook: “Goodbye Bilal Jadallah. The Press House will not be our home without you.”
Bilal’s brother, Salah Jadallah, also described the tank shelling in a Facebook post and expressed his deep sadness. Describing Bilal’s moves on the day of the strike, Salah reported that “Bilal was heading towards south of Gaza where Israel ordered civilians to flee. Bilal was very determined to stay in Gaza City for over a month and strongly believed it was his moral duty to tell the world what he witnesses in the besieged small city, assisting the needy people around him amid this humanitarian catastrophe.”
Kamal Al-Diyan, a journalist for Al-Nashra, a news organization based in Morocco, paid tribute to Bilal. Jadallah had spent time in Morocco for work and had touched Al-Diyan with his love of Morocco and had left him with “good impression of the resilience and strength of the Palestinian people.”
Salah Jadallah described Bilal as “the pillar of our family” and wrote that he stayed by his side “through thick and thin”. He described Bilal’s devotion to the Press House Foundation, “Nothing stopped Bilal’s to achieve his major project: establishing the EU-funded Press-house foundation to sponsor and support all independent freelance journalists who found a workspace at this place. He spared no efforts to protect them, arranging all of them safety courses, providing them with protective gear, and securing financial assistance for those facing difficult economic situations.”
Remembering the past, Salah paid tribute to Bilal’s charitable works “My dear brother, I still remember when you were taking me along with you every Ramadan to hand out aid to all poor people in our old neighborhood. I would not forget how humble you were though you had a very high rank in the society and among all NGO figures in Gaza, welcoming everyone knocking at your door to seek help. I cannot forget when you took me with you few months ago to one of the autism foundations in Gaza, listening to their needs to secure enough funds for them through internationally recoginzed organizations. I am not able to attend your burial or kiss your forehead as we are not allowed to move northward”. He then shared a photograph of them standing together outside, dressed in a blue and a white shirt.
A friend of Bilal called Rajab Al Sarraj paid tribute to the journalist in a post on Facebook, and described a conversation between them: “My friend, we argued, agreed, and we disagreed a lot on many things, but I still remember that we agreed years ago that there is a war that would be the last … and in every war we would ask each other is this the last war and every time we agreed that it is not the last and on October 7, we gathered at home in Gaza, and after what happened in the morning, we agreed that it would be the last, and I didn’t know that it was actually the last for you, my friend.”
The Palestinian Ministry of Culture also shared a post: “The martyr Jadallah played a major role in embracing media professionals and training and graduating cadres capable of conveying the truth and continuing this journey within the difficult, complex and harsh circumstances that the sector always experiences. Through the Press House, Jadallah played a role in linking journalism with culture and heritage, and even activating its role in supporting the intellectual and the creative. He founded the Cultural Salon to discuss many cultural issues and shed light on various related initiatives and activities.”
Many more photographs were shared of him with friends and family, smiling, chatting, and at work with kind condolence and goodbye messages mourning his death. Bilal Jadallah was known as the ‘Godfather’ of Palestinian journalism due to his activism and work with young journalists. The Committee to Protect Journalists also shared a statement saying they are: “deeply saddened by the killing of Palestinian journalist and press freedom defender Bilal Jadallah, a previous contributor to CPJ’s work.”
Salah Jadallah also shared a condolence message commemorating his brother-in-law: “Abdul Karim is one of the kindest, most wonderful, and most sophisticated people I know, not only as a son-in-law, but also as a brother and friend, and we do not praise anyone before God. He is kind-hearted, easy-going, friendly, and has a good attitude. He was well-mannered and did not know how to gossip. He spoke little, listened to others, and if he spoke, all his words were good. I did not know him hurting others. He chose to work in the medical field to be close to patients and strive with all his capabilities to help them and provide their medication needs. He was the best husband to his wife, the best father to his children, the best son to his parents, the best brother to his brothers, and the best friend to his friends. Anyone who worked with Dr. Abdul Karim knows well the importance of his job in oversight and inspection in the most important departments in the Ministry of Health and knows how Abu Muhammad performed his duties perfectly with all honesty and sincerity.”
According to this post, his sister Rifidah (Umm Mohammed) said goodbye to her husband, Abdel Karim and brother, Bilal, on the same day. The post is accompanied by a photograph of Abdel Karim in a blue suit smiling at a party.
All reports attributed the airstrike to the Israeli military.