Israeli Airstrike Kills Palestinian Journalist Wafa Aludaini Alongside Her Entire Family
Aludaini, a prolific journalist dedicated to mentoring young women writers in Gaza, wrote for Jezebel in 2022 about the horrific conditions Palestinian women face in Israeli prisons.
Twitter/ Writers Against the War on Gaza In Depth Journalists
On Monday morning, Israeli forces appeared to continue their targeted campaign against Palestinian journalists, killing reporter Wafa Aludaini and her entire family in their home in Central Gaza via airstrike. Aludaini, her husband Munir, their five-year-old daughter Balsam, and their seven-month-old baby Tamim were all killed in the attack. Aludaini is widely recognized as one of the most prolific Palestinian journalists writing in the English language for a variety of outlets—including Jezebel in 2022, for which she wrote an extensively reported feature on the horrific conditions that Palestinian women face in Israeli prisons.
Aludaini was a frequent contributing writer at the Palestine Chronicle, which first reported on her tragic death on Monday. Romana Rubeo, her editor, told Jezebel the entire staff was “deeply saddened” to learn of Aludaini’s death. “Wafa dedicated her life to truthfully documenting the Palestinian struggle, becoming a vital voice for those silenced by the Israeli occupation and siege,” Rubeo said. She added that one vital piece of Aludaini’s legacy will be her hand in guiding a new generation of Palestinian women storytellers, as a mentor and teacher who placed a “special focus on empowering women in the field of journalism.”
My dear friend, journalist Wafa Aludaini and her family has been murdered by an israeli airstrike in Deir AlBalah today. We worked on press releases together. يا الله اللهيرحمها 💔💔💔 pic.twitter.com/OzV19QxVSO
— Layla Darwish (@Qplo) September 30, 2024
“Many of her students were young women, whom she encouraged to challenge societal norms and tell the untold stories of their people,” Rubeo said. “Through her mentorship, Wafa not only strengthened the voices of Gaza’s youth but also helped empower a new generation of female journalists, paving the way for their leadership in the fight for truth and justice.”
Say her name: Wafa al-Udaini, one of the most prolific Palestinian journalists working in the English language (including for Middle East Monitor), who was martyred today in Central Gaza and who is about the 175th journalist murdered by US-Israel over the last year. pic.twitter.com/klGoZkK7iU
— 🍉 Dr. Thrasher still cares about Covid & Gaza🔻 (@thrasherxy) September 30, 2024
Aludaini’s last post on Twitter is a colorful image of sand sculptures by the ocean, “sending greetings and peace to Beirut” as Israeli forces escalate attacks on the city in Lebanon. She frequently shared updates about the horrors she witnessed on the ground in Gaza amid Israel’s genocidal campaign against Palestinian families like hers. On September 21, Aludaini shared news of a massacre at a school-turned-shelter where she found “child body parts are scattered everywhere,” writing, “The videos that I have are so horrible, I am sorry I couldn’t upload them. We will witness more massacres like this as long as the world leaders sit back and watch.”
Within days, Israeli forces would kill Aludaini and her entire family.