Prominent Palestinian journalist and activist Saleh al-Jaafari has been shot and killed in Gaza City amid a wave of internal clashes between Palestinian armed groups, a grim development that follows Hamas’s recent move to reassert control over the northern part of the Strip. His death was confirmed on Sunday by medical sources at the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital.
According to fellow journalists and eyewitnesses, al-Jaafari was shot multiple times while on assignment, filming in the al-Sabra neighborhood of Gaza City. The area has reportedly been the scene of sporadic but intense infighting and score-settling in the vacuum of power left by the Israeli military’s recent withdrawal.
Al-Jaafari’s killing is the first high-profile death to occur following a chilling order issued by Hamas just yesterday. On Saturday, the group redeployed thousands of its security forces back into northern Gaza and Gaza City with a directive to “cleanse the strip of outlaws and collaborators with Israel.” This has raised fears of a brutal internal purge, and the deadly clashes in which al-Jaafari was caught appear to be the first tragic manifestation of that order.
Saleh al-Jaafari was a well-known and respected independent journalist who had documented life in Gaza for years, covering numerous conflicts with Israel as well as the difficult internal political situation. His work often gave a voice to ordinary civilians caught in the crossfire. It is not yet clear which specific armed group was responsible for his death, but his killing underscores the extreme danger now facing journalists and civilians in a Gaza Strip threatened not only by external conflict but by a violent internal power struggle.
Press freedom organizations are expected to condemn the killing and call for an immediate investigation. The incident highlights the chaotic and perilous environment emerging in northern Gaza, where the fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire is being threatened not by Israeli forces, but by internal Palestinian strife.
As Hamas attempts to consolidate its power and root out rivals or those it deems “collaborators,” the risk of further violence is exceptionally high. Al-Jaafari’s death serves as a somber warning of the human cost of this new, internal conflict.
