On April 24, Amna Homaid’s mangled body lay in the rubble of a house in Shati camp, in the western part of Gaza City, as rescuers tried to find survivors. An Israeli strike hit the building, killing her and her eldest son, Mahdi. His brother and five other children were injured but survived.
His death joined the grim statistic of more than 140 journalists and health professionals murdered in Gaza by Israel’s genocidal attack, according to a count kept by the Gaza Media Office. This year – like last year – more journalists were killed in Palestine than in any other nation.
Palestinian women journalists have always been on the front lines of Israel’s violent occupation and the wars it has waged against Palestinians. Their bravery and dedication helped shed light on the suffering and atrocities that the Palestinian people have experienced and continue to face.
But Amna was more than a journalist; she was a poet and feminist activist. She was born in Gaza in 1990, to a family whose roots trace back to the Palestinian city of Isdud – what Israelis now call Ashdod.
As with most women in Gaza, Amna’s journey has been marked by resilience and an unwavering commitment to education. She earned a bachelor’s degree from the Islamic University of Gaza in 2016 and later entered a master’s program at Al-Aqsa University. Both of her alma maters were completely destroyed by Israeli bombing.
She worked for several local newspapers and radio stations, lending her voice to the marginalized, conducting research, and advocating for women’s rights and the Palestinian cause.
She lived in the Yarmouk neighborhood, a few kilometers from the Mediterranean coast of Gaza. Had she been born across the sea, she could have enjoyed an extensive and distinguished career, winning many awards and global recognition for her many gifts. As is the case today, her ultimate reward was death at the hands of the Israelite army.
Amna left behind a seven-month-old baby, Duha, as well as her sons Ali (10), Mohammed (9), Amir (5) and Gana (4). Her husband – journalist and activist Saed Hassunah – was unable to contact them.
They separated in December after Israeli soldiers stormed an apartment building in Gaza City where they had taken refuge, kidnapped and tortured him, and forced Amna and the children to leave. After the Israeli army freed Saed – beaten, stripped and without possessions – he headed south, as he was unable to establish contact with his family for days. Wounded and deeply worried about his wife and children, he suffered a nervous breakdown.
Before this horrific ordeal, the family had survived Israeli bombings of the places where they sought shelter twice. The second time, Amna and Duha were injured.
“I can’t stop thinking about them after Amna’s murder,” Saed told me. “I can’t go north and they can’t come south. We’re separated. I couldn’t even attend Amna’s funeral or say goodbye to her for the last time. and I can’t sleep thinking about them.”
Amna’s family is a symbol of all those in Gaza who fight against the atrocities that take place there. O words from the United Nations special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, resonate with a grim truth: “The colossal amount of evidence relating to the international crimes committed by Israel in Gaza over the past six months could keep the International Criminal Court occupied for the next five decades.”
The horror of Amna’s death is forever captured in a report broadcast on Al Jazeera Arabic. When correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul arrives at the scene of the attack, one of Amna’s sons, Mohammed, runs towards him. With tears streaming down his face and his voice shaking, the boy shouts: “Uncle Ismail!” “Yes, what happened, my dear?” the reporter asks.
The boy opens his heart: “My mother and my brother are trapped under the rubble and my other brothers and uncle are injured. I came out okay”, he says, crying and not realizing that there are small pieces of shrapnel in his body.
The reporter asks what happened. Mohammed struggles to speak. Breathing heavily and sobbing, he says a rocket fell while the family was sitting together. As he is overcome with tears, a relative rushes to hug him, offering what little solace can be found amid the unfolding genocide.
Mohammed’s words are a specter in my mind, thousands of kilometers away in Canada and unable to do anything against the savage Leviathan unleashed on Gaza. I hope that one day these words will echo in the corridors of international justice.
Before she was taken from us, Amna faced a smear campaign. Israel Channel 14 streaming a photograph of her and stated that she was part of the Palestinian armed resistance and that her presence at al-Shifa Hospital proved that Hamas was “hiding in the hospital”.
Instead of showing solidarity with a fellow journalist under attack, the Israeli media chose to incite against her. Amna was in fact in al-Shifa, but left the hospital shortly before the siege began, thus avoiding death in the massacre of at least 400 people in March. This decision to leave prolonged her life for a few weeks.
Her husband believes she was the target of reports about the Israeli genocide.
A few weeks before her murder, Amna wrote a moving reflection on her Facebook page:
“My choices have always been a mix of bitter and surprising experiences. Although circumstances are fraught with difficulties and destiny is at stake, I have never been one to waver, bend, retreat or falter. Nothing will stop me from defending the sanctity of the sacraments and from carrying and transmitting the message that I deeply understood from a very young age.”
Amna’s murder on April 24 is a loss for her family, her friends, the Palestinian people and anyone committed to building a better world. His words of hope and dedication are an incredible testament to the power of the human spirit to survive through the unimaginable. I hope they inspire future generations to act with the same courage as she did.
Rest in power, Amna!
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
