“Israel” Killed Ismail Al-Ghoul, but We’re All Ismail

Two hours before he was killed, Ismail appeared on al-Jazeera from al-Shati refugee camp in Gaza, where he was reporting on reactions to the assassination of the Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh who was martyred by an “Israeli” strike in Iran’s capital.

An “Israeli” drone strike targeted al-Ghoul’s car as he was driving across the enclave, and he was immediately martyred along with the cameraman Rami al-Rifi.

Al-Ahed News had conversations with some of Ismail’s colleagues and heard the stories they told about the brave young reporter who was keen on exposing “Israel’s” atrocities against the Palestinian people.

A Brave heart

Abdallah, one of the reporters still working in the North of Gaza, is a friend of Ismail. He told al-Ahed news that despite the dire conditions and tough situation, lack of food and sleep, scarce equipment and other necessities of life, Ismail insisted on remaining in the North to report the truth.

“Since the beginning of the war, Ismail vowed to show the world the ‘Israeli’ atrocities committed against the innocent Palestinian people. I met him many times while carryout our field work, he was swift at work, moving from one place to another. Ismail was always in the field reporting from refugee camps, hospitals, targeted areas, and destructed neighborhoods even during the middle of the night,” Abdallah told al-Ahed News.

“He would go to really dangerous zones to cover the news; he was a brave heart,” he added.

The young man said that when Ismail was killed, “the few journalists remaining in Gaza and I received dozens of calls from family members and friends, telling us to come to the South and flee the North. They all tried to convince us to leave, because journalists are not immune and all the promises on protecting them are fake.”

However, inspired by young Ismail, Abdallah said “we refused to leave and we saw our presence here in Northern Gaza as continuation to what Ismail and others were doing. It is our ethical duty to stay here and reveal to the world what the enemy is doing to our people and land.”

Press crews are targeted anywhere they go to conceal the images, the crimes and the massacres that the Palestinian people are enduring. A Palestinian journalist was killed on Wednesday in an “Israeli” attack in the southern Gaza Strip, bringing the martyrs toll of journalists to 166 since last Oct. 7.

A vibrant soul

Speaking to al-Ahed News, Lamis, a reporter from the Gaza Strip said “Ismail al-Ghoul is my colleague, we started work at the same place, and he was the youngest among us. He was a vibrant soul who was always enthusiastic to learn. He came and started his internship even before graduating from college.”

He was exceptionally ambitious, Lamis said, “and when Al-Jazeera needed reporters to cover news in the North of Gaza, Ismail did not hesitate to apply and get the job, and just like we saw he gave up his life for the sake of defending Palestine and delivering the message of the Palestinian people to the world.”

It was a tough moment when she received the news that he was martyred, Lamis recalled.

“He was so friendly to everyone; you could not but like him,” she added. 

It is no surprise that he was killed by the Zionist enemy, according to Lamis, because he was exposing the heinous crimes the “Israeli” enemy committed inside the besieged enclave.

“They were afraid of him, and that is an emblem of bravery and triumph he has earned forever,” she said.

Journalists like Ismail covering the war inside Gaza have faced unparalleled risks to their personal safety amid the “Israeli” airstrikes and ground invasion, but many have refused to stop their activity and believe that “Israel” is afraid of the media.

“Israel” afraid of Ismail

Ahmad, another journalist from the Gaza strip told al-Ahed news “Ismail and I were colleagues, we worked together for some three years at the beginning of his journey in media work. He would not skip reporting any of the right to return marches that would take place along the fence separating the besieged strip from the Occupied Palestinian territories.”

Ahmad said Ismail was always ready to report and deliver the message of the Palestinian people and fight for the cause with his words and through delivering the true image of the bitter occupation and its crimes.

“Unlike some of us who tried to avoid being in the limelight in fear of being killed, he was one of those brave reporters who were never afraid of death,” he went on to say.

“Israel’s” killing of Ismail is sufficient evidence that they are afraid of reporters who are capable of exposing the “Israeli” atrocities and viciousness especially during the current war, and therefore they have been a direct target where more than 166 journalists have been killed since the beginning of the al-Aqsa flood operation, Ahmad said.

We are all Ismail

Another journalist from Gaza spoke to al-Ahed News on Ismail al-Ghoul.

Maha, who managed to leave the Gaza Strip after a few months to the beginning of the war with her family told the News website, “7 years ago, I got acquainted to Ismail for the first time at work. He came to the newspaper where I work to start his internship at first, but soon was employed because he was a diligent person.”

“He did a lot of effort to learn everything about journalism and Press work. At the time the majority of journalists left to the South of Gaza, Ismail refused to do so and insisted to stay and deliver the voice of the people through his personal social media page at first, and then through Al-Jazeera TV channel, where he got his golden opportunity to be able to deliver the voice of the Palestinian peoples and their agony in face of the ‘Israeli’ occupation to millions across the world,” she described.

Maha said she could not believe the news when she first heard it.

“My heart started racing, I could not stop sobbing. Ismail was like a younger brother to me,” she said.

Maha added that reporting in Gaza had become something really scary to most journalists and reporters, because they were being targeted by the “Israeli” occupation forces since the beginning of the war, but Ismail was among the very few who were not afraid of being martyred or targeted.

“The occupation forces fabricated a story saying that he worked for the Qassam Brigades, but that is a mere lie. We are used to the lies they make up in an attempt to justify killing reporters,” she highlighted. 

What “Israel” does not realize, Maha said, is that whether we are in the North or South of Gaza, inside or outside Palestine, we, as journalists and reporters will remain to expose “Israel’s” atrocities.

“They managed to kill Ismail, but they do not realize or understand that we are all Ismail,” she added.  

To Lamis, Ahmad, Abdallah, and Maha, Ismail was not just a reporter, but also a friend and colleague who refused to stay silent and abandon his profession and chose to document “Israel’s” tremendous genocides and war crimes against humanity that took place in the besieged Gaza Strip, where more than 2 million people face death, destruction and starvation.