'Israel takes revenge on me as journalist trying to reveal genocide to world,' says Anadolu cameraman

By Bariskan Unal and Esat Firat

ANKARA (AA) – Anadolu's freelance cameraman in Gaza said Israel tried to take revenge on him as a journalist trying to reveal "Israeli genocide to the world" regarding the killing of his four children and three siblings in the bombardment on Nov. 5.

Mohammed al-Alul is a journalist from Gaza who announced to the world the humanitarian tragedy of the shooting of civilian targets in Gaza.

Since the beginning of the attacks, he went to the areas and hospitals bombed by Israel and became the closest witness to the tragedy in Gaza. While he was doing his duty, he cried and shared the pains of grieved families.

During Israel's attacks on Nov. 5, he faced one of the greatest pain a journalist and a father can experience. This time, the target of the bombs was his own home and family.

Muhammad al-Alul, who received the news while he was on duty, went to Aqsa Martyrs Hospital to find the bodies of his children.

Al-Alul lost his four children and three siblings, aged between 4 and 13, in Israeli attacks.

According to al-Alul, who recorded the colors of life in Gaza with his camera before the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, there is no color for him anymore after losing his children. Life is just "grey" for him then.

Al-Alul talked about his experiences as a journalist and a Gazan resident in an interview with Anadolu on Jan. 10 Working Journalists' Day.

- 'I have witnessed many wars, but this is very different'

Question: Israel's attacks on Gaza lasted three months and nearly 24,000 Palestinians lost their lives, including 10,000 children. As a journalist, when the events first started on Oct. 7, did you think that the process would reach this point and that it would affect Gazans this much?

Muhammed al-Alul: First of all, as a person beyond a journalist, we experienced the background of the incident that took place on Oct. 7 as follows: I was sleeping in my house and suddenly we woke up with the sound of attacks, bombs, missile attacks. We saw the news, and we were shocked. We heard that soldiers were taken prisoner and the Israeli side was raided. We witnessed the subsequent bombings, missile attacks, and warplanes attacks on Gaza.

After I woke up, my children wanted to go to school, and they were getting ready for school. I wanted them to stay at home because we did not know where the situation would evolve. We saw the planes in the skies of Gaza and the shooting in Gaza. Then, I prepared all my equipment and headed to Anadolu's office in Gaza.

I couldn't yet predict where the situation would evolve. After hearing the news, we learned that the Palestinian resistance had raided Israel's Gaza Strip environs. I said to myself: "We are probably entering a long-term war."

I thought about this: if there was going to be an attack, a war, we know that Israel is a criminal state; I knew that it was a state built on genocide, a state based on hatred, raising its children to kill Palestinians. Most likely, this would be a very long war. Actually, we own these lands, but Israel established a state in our lands and captured and killed Palestinians in these lands.

Images of Palestinian resistance dragging Israeli soldiers on the ground began to be published. Thereupon, Israel began bombing all parts of the Gaza Strip indiscriminately, subjecting people to forced migration. It forced people to migrate from north to south, hitting the north and south. There were at least 60-70 Palestinian martyrs in every house. In other words, Israel began to hit the Gaza Strip indiscriminately.

As a journalist, I managed to cover, follow, and witness many wars, but I can say that this is very different. I can say this is unique. Israel clearly decided to take revenge on civilians because it could not reach the Palestinian resistance. I witnessed that the majority of the martyrs who came to the hospital were women and children. I witnessed even babies being martyred in these attacks. Which baby committed a crime and deserved to be killed? Why were these babies killed?

- 'We are experiencing another Nakba'

Question: As a journalist, you said, "I have followed many wars, but this war was very different." In what ways was it different?

Muhammed al-Alul: During the 2014 war, I saw a more local refuge and asylum situation in the Shujaiye district. I saw people trying to take shelter from there to other parts of Gaza. In other wars, there was no mass refugee situation of people, but in this war, there is a mass refugee situation. Palestinians are displaced from their own places. In previous wars, Palestinians could stay in their homes. At least they knew the places where they were not being targeted. There was water; people had access to food. It was possible for those who were shot and injured and people to transfer their children to hospitals.

How can a state directly target aid teams, healthcare institutions, and hospitals? We know that they are targeting al-Shifa and Indonesian hospitals. We have seen journalists being targeted. The previous wars were more local, but this is a war for the whole of Gaza. We clearly see that Israel, which could not reach the Palestinians underground and in resistance, clearly took revenge on the entire Gaza Strip. At the same time, I saw that infrastructure, water resources, journalists, first aid teams, and hospitals were deliberately targeted and attempts were made to make these places uninhabitable. Therefore, I can say that this war is very different from previous wars.

We know that our ancestors and grandfathers were subjected to forced migration from Palestinian lands and that the Nakba took place in 1948. Today, we are experiencing another Nakba similar to it. Today, everyone is being shot at in the Gaza Strip, nothing is allowed to sustain living conditions, and unfortunately, the whole world is just watching this.

- 'Our goal was to reach a piece of bread'

Question: How were you able to follow the news in an environment where there were so many attacks? As you said, every house could be hit at any time, regardless of civilians. What were your working conditions as a journalist?

Muhammed al-Alul: In previous wars, we had an office, and when we returned from shooting, we at least had the opportunity to send the images we took from the internet in our office. We did not have an office in this war, and it was not possible to have an office in such a situation.

We could not reach many places because everywhere was being shot and under attack. We are in various fields. We were trying to send it when we found the internet. We witnessed so many events. We saw so many things; so many babies, women, and children were martyred, and it was not easy to decide which one's image we would send.

While I was trying to convey an image as a journalist, this was not our only goal. Our goal is also to reach a piece of bread, not just for ourselves but for our children and family. There were many difficulties in life. We could all be targeted. We both had a life safety issue and needed water and food.

I said that previous wars were not like this. I can say that all Palestinian people were subjected to forced migration in this war. Today, not a single avenue or street remains. Palestinians are fleeing from there, being displaced. There is no Palestinian family today that has not experienced pain.

-'We Palestinians have never witnessed mass graves before'

Question: How has daily life in Gaza changed from day to day? For example, what is the situation like for people in Gaza right now when they want to spend a day? How do they have access to food, water, and electricity?

Muhammad al-Alul: For example, the most important thing for a person is security and stability, living with his family and children. Today, there are none left in Gaza. People had to go into tents. They have serious difficulties in meeting their needs. We are currently in winter. It has reached such a level that Gazans want it to stop raining. Today, they have serious difficulties accessing bread and food, and they need toilets and bathrooms. So I can say that there is actually nothing left about life.

In the past, there was water and other food in homes, albeit at a minimum level, and it was not difficult to access them. Today, a Palestinian child waits in line for hours, starting from four in the morning, to get a piece of bread, and must wait in line again for a bottle of water. People are forced to leave their homes and settle in tents. They are forced to go to the borders. In the past, at least at this point, there were fewer problems and there were these in the houses, but today there is nothing left of them.

This is the first time we have witnessed such a difficult war. Today, hundreds of injured people and dozens of martyrs' bodies are coming to hospitals. We Palestinians have never witnessed mass graves before; we are witnessing mass graves now. We have to bury our martyrs in mass graves on the roads, streets, gardens, in various areas, wherever we can.

- 'I mostly cried at every sight I encountered'

Question: How did it affect you to follow the news as a journalist and to witness the death of your own country and people in such an environment where a human tragedy is taking place and where cruelty is witnessed every day? How were you able to separate your work from your emotions from time to time, witnessing a bombardment and being hospitalized?

Muhammad al-Alul: To be honest, I mostly cried at every scene I encountered. It was impossible to prevent this. I witnessed people staying safe in their homes and dying in homes that were hit. I tried to prevent this many times. I tried to put a barrier between my professional work and my emotions, but it was impossible to prevent it. After all, as a human being and a Palestinian, I had never witnessed this much pain before.

- 'It was very difficult for me to even get there'

Question: I don't want to talk about your pain again, but we can only understand your experiences better when we hear from you. You lost your children. Can you tell us what you experienced that day as much as you want?

Muhammed al-Alul: I am a person whose life has completely changed as of Nov. 5. Two different people, before and after Nov. 5. I was a father with a family and children; today, I am a father who lost almost all of his children and a brother who lost his siblings, trying to hold on to life. I have been witnessing my children grow up before my eyes for 13 years. I saw how they grew and became more beautiful day by day, and suddenly, they disappeared. They all disappeared. This only happened because I am a journalist and I am Palestinian.

Before Nov. 5, I used to cry with the families of the children who were martyred in the houses that were shot, but on Nov. 5, I had to cry over my own children and lament for them.

Normally, I lived with my family in the al-Maghazi refugee camp. That day, I was working in Khan Yunis. My family was at the house in the camp, and they were shot there. It was very difficult for me to even get there. About 1-1.5 hours later, I learned that my children or family members were targeted. First, I received the photo of my son Kays (4) being martyred. Then I learned that my brothers Atif and Ahmed were martyred. So it was difficult to reach, but I was able to find out later.

- 'We opened each of corpses to identify their faces one by one'

I had to stay at Khan Yunis overnight. We could only get to the place where my house was shot in the morning. When we went to Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, there were almost hundreds of corpses in front of me. There were so many martyrs that we opened the faces of each of them one by one and tried to find out which one was my child. It was so much. Finally, I was able to meet the bodies of my four martyred children. My four siblings were martyred, and my brother Ahmet and his three children were martyred. I was able to see them all; we saw the funerals of our friends and neighbors.

What crime did my family, children, and siblings commit that they deserve to be killed? Israel clearly tried to take revenge on us. He tried to take revenge on me as a journalist who tried to reveal this genocide committed by Israel to the world. I know this clearly. It tried to take revenge on me as someone who not only reflected photos and images to the regional media but also served the images to the Western media.

So Israel still continues to commit these crimes, continues to target journalists, first aid teams, medical teams, and civilians, and takes revenge on them. Why can Israel do this? Because it is very clear that the US and the international community support Israel, while the Arab and Islamic world just watches with silence. Israel still continues this genocide today. Why? Because the entire international community continues to side with Israel.

- 'The house was clearly targeted'

Question: You said, "Israel targeted me as a journalist." Do you mean to directly say that Israel deliberately targeted your home as you are a journalist?

Muhammad al-Alul: Frankly, to this day, I still continue to question myself: Why was my house really targeted? Because we are very sure that in the area where my house is located, there was no point belonging to the Palestinian resistance or Palestinian organizations that could be targeted. For example, in the Israeli press, when Israel targets a point in our region, it says so openly. We targeted an important person belonging to such an organization. However, there was no such situation here, and only the house where my children and family members were located was clearly targeted without any prior warning. There is no other explanation for this.

- 'Should I wait for them to die there?'

Question: You came to Türkiye on Dec. 5. Your wife is in the hospital. How is the treatment process? Now that you are far away, how does watching the developments from here affect you as a reporter?

Muhammad al-Alul: I witnessed the martyrdom of my children on Nov. 5, and I performed the funeral prayers of my children and brothers.

Afterward, we were able to leave there with my wife, my son named Adem, and my mother. Today, my father, one of my brothers' wives and children are still there. Gaza is still being bombed. This genocide, this tragedy, still continues. Not being able to get them out of there is a different pain, and watching what happens there, even from a distance, is another pain.

My wife had burns and shrapnel in various places on her body. It was a very difficult surgery. The treatment process continues. I am a living dead now; I see no color of life anymore; everything is grey.

Today, my family, my father, my husband's family, and my brother Atif's wife, who needs a platinum on her left foot, are still there. My family members staying there today need even a morsel of bread to live on daily. Therefore, I describe myself as a living dead.

I have been crying every day since Nov. 5. My life has changed completely; I cry by looking at the photos of my children and the memories of my children, and I continue to cry every day. I am a father. I am a human being. I would like to make my children's dreams come true, I would like to strive to make their dreams come true, and I would like to witness their joy, but thank God, unfortunately, everything was cut short.

My family members and my father are staying there today. My brother's 12-year-old daughter has a fractured skull. My brother's wife and children need treatment. I'm trying to take them out. What can I do? Should I wait for them to die there? I'm trying to do something, but I can't do anything.

- 'It's as if a Hollywood movie is being shot in Gaza. They are waiting for a hero to emerge'

Question: Finally, if you had to describe Israel's attacks and what happened in Gaza in a single word or sentence, how would you describe it? Which word or phrase do you prefer?

Muhammad al-Alul: What happened in Gaza is a genocide. It is very clear that the world states, the whole world, are as if a Hollywood movie is being shot in Gaza and they are waiting for a hero to emerge. Everyone is watching this. I think they expected the genocide in Gaza to end with a hero, and they watched it like a movie.

I asked all human rights and international institutions and associations to go to court and file a lawsuit against the occupying Israeli state. As a journalist and Palestinian, I will file a lawsuit in both Turkish and international courts.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar