Rich Palestine!
CrossFireArabia- May 4, 2026
Uncover the rich heritage and historical roots of Palestine through this rare 1930s British survey map. From Jerusalem to Haifa, every path tells a story of a culture that transcends time.
Israel Attacked Palestine’s Press 300 Times in 2026
- CrossFireArabia
- May 4, 2026
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said Sunday it had recorded about 300 violations and attacks against Palestinian journalists since the start of 2026, amid escalating targeting of media workers.
The announcement came during a rally organized by the syndicate outside its headquarters in the city of al-Bireh in the occupied West Bank, marking World Press Freedom Day and protesting continued attacks on journalists.
Participants raised banners demanding an end to the killing of media workers and accountability for Israel.
“Activities organized on World Press Freedom Day aim to highlight the exceptional and unprecedented conditions under which the Palestinian journalist operates,” Omar Nazzal, the deputy head of the syndicate, addressed the crowd.
Journalists are facing “the fiercest Israeli war machine,” he added, noting that more than 4,000 violations have been recorded against them since the start of the war on Gaza in October 2023.
“The number of journalists killed has reached 262 male and female journalists since that date, including 261 in the Gaza Strip, in addition to six journalists killed since the beginning of 2026,” said Mohammad al-Lahham, head of the syndicate’s freedoms committee.
He added that the current year has also seen 10 direct injuries, 22 arrests, 120 cases of detention or prevention from coverage, and 12 attacks carried out by Israeli occupiers.
Lahham said total violations since October 2023 reached 3,983, including 1,072 in 2023, 1,325 in 2024, 1,286 in 2025, and 300 in 2026.
These violations included 240 cases of direct gunfire at media crews and 352 cases involving tear gas and stun grenades, as well as beatings, confiscation of equipment, and travel bans, he added.
The syndicate said in a report read at the event that it had documented 188 arrests since October 2023, along with the destruction of 187 media institutions and offices and 140 homes belonging to journalists.
The syndicate reported the killing of 713 family members of journalists, indicating that the targeting extended beyond media workers to their social environment.
The syndicate said the targeting of journalists “is not individual behavior” but part of a “systematic policy” aimed at restricting journalism and silencing the Palestinian narrative, particularly amid field coverage of events.
It called on the UN and international organizations to provide urgent protection for Palestinian journalists, open independent investigations into violations, and ensure accountability.
The Israeli genocidal war on Gaza began on Oct. 8, 2023, and has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians and wounded over 172,000, according to Palestinian figures.
Despite a ceasefire in effect since October 2025, Israel continues daily strikes and a blockade that has killed hundreds more and worsened humanitarian conditions in the enclave, home to about 2.4 million Palestinians, including 1.5 million displaced.
‘Stop Killing Our Journalists’
- CrossFireArabia
- May 4, 2026
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate in the Gaza Strip held a protest Sunday calling for international protection for reporters and an end to Israel’s “genocide” against media workers amid the ongoing war since October 2023.
Coinciding with the World Press Freedom Day on May 3, the rally took place outside a solidarity tent run by the syndicate in the courtyard of the destroyed Rashad al-Shawa Cultural Center in western Gaza City.
Journalists, correspondents from local and international outlets, and representatives of media and rights organizations took part, according to an Anadolu correspondent.
Participants raised banners demanding protection for journalists, an end to direct targeting, and guarantees for press freedom under “extremely dangerous” security and humanitarian conditions.
The Israeli genocidal war on Gaza began on Oct. 8, 2023, and has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians and wounded over 172,000, including women and children.
Despite a ceasefire in effect since October 2025, Israel continues daily strikes and a blockade that has killed hundreds more and worsened humanitarian conditions in the enclave, home to about 2.4 million Palestinians, including 1.5 million displaced.
Systematic targeting
Tahseen al-Astal, deputy head of the journalists syndicate in Gaza, said Palestinian journalists continue to carry out their work despite a “policy of systematic targeting” by Israel.
“The Palestinian journalist will not abandon his identity, his narrative, or his mission and will remain committed to conveying the truth to the world,” he told participants.
Threats, killings, and attacks on journalists’ families and workplaces constitute a “flagrant violation of international humanitarian law,” Astal said.
He called on international institutions and the International Federation of Journalists to assume their legal and moral responsibilities to provide protection for reporters in Gaza.
He urged an end to “the genocide on civilians and journalists and accountability for those responsible,” warning that “impunity encourages further violations against media workers.”
Ahed Farawna, secretary of the syndicate, told Anadolu that targeting journalists in Gaza represents “one of the gravest crimes against journalism in modern history.”
He said more than 260 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the start of the war, alongside hundreds injured or detained and extensive destruction of media institutions.
Such targeting reflects a “systematic approach to silencing the Palestinian media voice,” Farawna added.
He stressed that the international community bears a moral and legal responsibility to act urgently to protect journalists and hold perpetrators accountable.
Calls for international action
Mohammad Abu Nammous, a correspondent for Al-Ghad TV, told Anadolu that more than 262 journalists have been killed by Israel since October 2023.
A number of journalists remain detained or in unclear conditions, while more than 420 have been injured during field coverage, he added.
“The (Israeli) occupation has destroyed most media offices, causing major paralysis in the media infrastructure inside the enclave,” he said.
“These figures reflect a policy targeting press freedom and restricting access to information,” he added, calling for translating international support for press freedom into concrete measures on the ground.
Nahed Abu Harbeed, a correspondent for Alkofiya TV, said journalists in Gaza continue to work “despite significant risks.”
“They operate under direct threat of bombardment and targeting,” she told Anadolu.
Many journalists have lost colleagues during the war, yet continue their work out of a commitment to conveying the truth and documenting violations, she added.
In addition to daily bombardment, Israel continues to block the entry of agreed-upon quantities of food, medicine, medical supplies, and shelter materials into Gaza, where about 2.4 million Palestinians—including 1.5 million displaced—face dire conditions.
Israeli Sniper Shoots Bride 10 Days Before Her Wedding
- CrossFireArabia
- May 4, 2026
Ten days before her wedding, Hala Salem Darwish was preparing for a celebration. Instead, she now lies in intensive care after a bullet from an Israeli sniper pierced her family home and struck her in the head, turning her wedding countdown into a fight for survival.
The 19-year-old was helping her family prepare food shortly before sunset when the bullet entered through a window, hitting the back left side of her head and causing her to collapse in front of her relatives.
A wedding interrupted
Her fiancé, Mohammed Shreihi, said the shooting came just days before the ceremony they had long awaited.
“There were only 10 days left until our wedding,” he told Anadolu. “In a single moment, everything changed.”
He said the bullet remains lodged in her head and has caused severe damage to brain tissue, leaving her condition critical and unstable.
Doctors have so far been unable to operate, waiting for her condition to stabilize.
“She was like any bride, full of joy and anticipation,” he said. “Now we are only hoping she survives.”
A father’s memory
Her father, Salim, said the moment of the shooting continues to haunt him.
“We were preparing food when suddenly an Israeli bullet came through the window and hit her,” he said. “She fell in front of us. I cannot forget that scene.”
He added that her wedding had been scheduled for early May, a day the family had been preparing for despite the hardships of war.
Health system on the brink
Hala’s case reflects the broader reality in Gaza, where the health system has been pushed to the brink.
Doctors say the treatment she needs is not available inside the enclave and requires urgent transfer abroad.
Palestinian estimates indicate that around 22,000 wounded and sick people in Gaza need to leave the territory for treatment amid severe shortages of medicines and medical equipment.
Her fiancé has appealed to the International Committee of the Red Cross and humanitarian organizations to intervene, hoping she can be evacuated in time.
For now, the wedding dress remains unworn, and the future she had planned has been replaced by uncertainty according to Anadolu.
Israel has continued to commit daily violations of a ceasefire deal that was signed last October, killing 830 Palestinians and injuring 2,345, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The ceasefire was meant to end a two-year Israeli onslaught on Gaza which left more than 72,000 dead and 172,000 wounded and destroyed 90% of civilian infrastructure.
The UN estimates reconstruction costs at around $70 billion.
Ahmad Al Sharif Celebrates His Wedding on a ‘Bulldozer”
- CrossFireArabia
- May 3, 2026
Ahmad and his bride will never forget their wedding day. It was a joyous occasion because he was married on a bulldozer amidst the ruins of his Sheikh Radwan neighborhood which is part of Gaza City.
Social media websites covered the festive occasion at length, Friday, with him being carried in the mouth of the bulldozer as he danced next to his bride with people cheering him on as Palestinian danced the dabbakeh folklore and traditional song.
The bride Ahmad Al Sharif travelled back with his wife Alaa, from Deir Al Balah in the center of the Gaza Strip. The newly-weds were part of a group wedding of a massive 300 people that was held in that city’s “Dier Al Balah Services Club” and organized by the UAE-based Al Khalifah Humanitarian Corp.
Such happiness can only be displayed in Gaza where the Strip is “starving but happy” according to its people. “I was particularly keen to have part of my wedding on a bulldozer to show the ruins and debris my neighborhood and city has been reduced to by the Israelis,” Al Sharif said.
For him Friday, will be remembered as an ecstatic occasion. The collective wedding began in Deir Al Balah at 1 pm on Friday noon where brides and grooms from all over the Gaza Strip got “hitched” in plush rented out white dresses and black suits and watched by thousands of people.
About 120 couples came from the Radwan, Shujayia, and Rimal areas of Gaza City and the north of the Strip while the rest from central Gaza, Khan Younis and Rafah, the last city being on the southern border with the Sinai Peninsula and Egypt.
Some of the couples also came from their new homes in tent cities hoisted in the months after the Israeli genocide soon after 7 October, 2023 when thousands of people were displaced and chased away through Israeli guns.
The big wedding ceremony lasted till mid-afternoon Asr prayer and all the couples started to move out and go back to where they came from.
“We wanted to get back to our homes before dark,” Al Sharif. “I actually wanted to get back to my neighborhood before sunset to have another party, and boy, what a send that turned out to be.” This was true because of the videos that splashed the Internet.
He surprised everyone by having the party on a bulldozer with his bride sitting next to him; it is him and his bride Alaa that made the news headlines on social media websites as the other couples took their new brides back home without much pomp nor ceremony considering the circumstances.
“I wanted to have a party among the rubbles as a point of defiance and show the Israeli army that they can’t beat our spirit,” he added. “We had a good show, judging from the number of people who came to greet us and join in the festivities,” he added.
Most of the people of Gaza has been reduced to living among the wreckage, debris and in tents. The UN estimates that between 57.5 to 68 million tons of debris clutter the Strip today; and these piles were created by the 100,000 tons of explosives thrown on the enclave by Israel since 7 October, 2023.
The total number of people that have been killed in Gaza stands at 72,600 while over 172,000 have been injured as shown by the Gaza Health Ministry.
Not many married during the genocide of the last two years or so. Young people have been delaying till things become relatively quite, war-wise. Ever since 11 October, 2025, a ceasefire took place in Gaza as backed by US President Donald Trump.
Although the killings and injury continue through the Israeli military, by comparison, they are much lower than when the war on Gaza had been at its highest, and which explains why more and more people are getting married in the enclave.
Marwan Asmar is a writer from Amman and is Chief Editor of crossfirearabia.com
