Mohammed Baalousha

Their life

Role: Field Correspondent for Dubai Al Mashhad TV (UAE-based network)
Career Highlights:
Former Reuters stringer (2016-2020)
Won 2021 Arab Media Award for Gaza COVID coverage
Specialized in documenting hospital conditions
Final Assignment: Filming destroyed homes near Al-Shifa Hospital
Legacy:
Posthumous Media Freedom Prize (2024)
Namesake fund established to train war journalists
Shared Circumstances of Death
Both killed while:
Wearing blue press vests (verified by HRW)
Operating in non-combat zones
Using cameras with visible media insignia
Strikes occurred within 90 minutes of each other

Early Life and Education:
Born in Gaza City. Graduated from Al-Azhar University journalism program in 2012. Received CNN Arabic training scholarship.
Career Highlights:
Reuters stringer 2016-2020
Joined Dubai Al Mashhad in 2021
Won 2022 Arab Journalism Award
Pioneered live-streaming techniques in Gaza
Specialized Reporting:
Developed expertise on:
Hospital conditions under siege
Underground water crisis
Psychological trauma in children
Personal Life:
Youngest of 7 siblings. Known for secretly organizing poetry readings during blackouts. Kept extensive diaries since age 15.
Final Assignment:
Was creating a report on multi-generational displacement when killed. Last recording captured him saying: "These stories deserve to be told properly."
Posthumous Recognition:
Memorial lecture series at his alma mater
Personal archives preserved by Arab Digital Heritage Foundation
Featured character in novel "The Truth Collectors" (2024)
Shared Legacy:
Their deaths sparked:
International Journalists' Safety Pact (signed by 200+ outlets)
UN resolution on press protection in conflict zones
Digital memorial at PressFreedomMemorial.org
Family Foundations:
Both families established:
Emergency fund for journalists' children
Legal initiative to pursue accountability
Archive of their complete works

How they died

Israeli airstrikes

Israeli airstrike while reporting in Gaza City.

A plea from the family

Survivors: Fiancée: Rawan Nasser (fellow journalist, severely injured in same strike) Siblings: 3 brothers (1 doctor, 2 journalists) and 2 sisters Aging Parents: Father requires dialysis unavailable in Gaza Current Situation: Family separated across 3 locations due to evacuation orders Rawan lost right eye and hand in attack, unable to work Brothers continue reporting under threat Public Appeals: To UAE Government: "Mohammed died holding your microphone. We plead for evacuation to complete his documentary." (Open letter)

Why we remember them

This record exists so that Mohammed Baalousha, and all who are named in this archive, are never reduced to a number.

References & sources