The Spanish newspaper El País has published a detailed report chronicling the life and professional experience of Youmna El-Sayed, an Al Jazeera English correspondent in the Gaza Strip. This reporter, amidst the war that Israel launched against Gaza on October 7, 2023, not only witnessed genocide but also broadcasted it moment by moment to the world.
Youmna El-Sayed was forced to leave Gaza with her children after receiving direct threats from the Israeli army. She now resides in her hometown of Cairo but continues to keep the voice of the people of Gaza alive by traveling to various countries, warning against the forgetting of the humanitarian catastrophe in the region.
This Palestinian reporter was living in Gaza City with her husband and four children when the war began. Simultaneously with Israel’s ban on foreign journalists entering the area, the role of local reporters, including Youmna El-Sayed, became vitally important, as their reports were the world’s only window into the on-the-ground realities of Gaza.
When the possibility to leave Gaza arose in late 2023, El-Sayed faced one of the most difficult decisions of her life. She says about this: “It was a pivotal moment; my mother told me I had to choose between being a journalist and being a mother, because I could no longer do both at the same time.”
This 35-year-old reporter ultimately decided to prioritize her children’s lives and move them to a safe place, but she still grapples with a feeling she calls “survivor’s guilt.” She says: “I am happy that my children are safe now, but my colleagues are still in Gaza, and the genocide continues.”
During the months Youmna El-Sayed covered the war, she and her children, who were between the ages of 5 and 12 at the time, experienced bombardment, forced displacement, and hunger. El-Sayed says: “In three months, we were forced to flee six times.” While trying to secure food for her family, she produced live television reports.
One of her reports was widely shared on social media when the Israeli army targeted a building near her location during a live broadcast. According to El País, Youmna El-Sayed was a well-known figure to the Israelis due to her work for Al Jazeera. She says about this: “The Israeli army threatened me twice, and that made me feel like I was the biggest danger to my children’s lives.”
This Gaza reporter strongly criticizes international media, accusing them of bias towards Israel’s narrative, dehumanizing Palestinian victims, and failing to independently verify information provided by the Israeli army.
According to El-Sayed, international media have lost their credibility, driving people towards social media—a trend that increases the risk of spreading misinformation. She says: “Why do they say ‘the Hamas-affiliated Ministry of Health’ when announcing casualty figures? This is a trick to create doubt in the audience’s mind. This entity is the Palestinian Ministry of Health.”
Youmna El-Sayed also expressed skepticism regarding former U.S. President Donald Trump’s plan for Gaza’s future, seeing it as a continuation of the original plan: seizing Gaza and turning it into a “Riviera.” She adds: “Gaza is now destroyed and uninhabitable, but when they seize it, they will also take its resources; everyone is after their share of this cake.”
She emphasizes that this plan holds no benefit for the people of Gaza and says: “If they truly intended to help the Palestinians, they would at least begin implementing the ceasefire agreement,” but according to her, this has never happened.
El-Sayed further explains: “According to the agreement, 600 trucks of humanitarian aid, including fuel, gas, medicine, and food, were supposed to enter Gaza daily, but in practice, only 100 to 160 trucks are allowed in. No fuel or medicine enters, and what arrives is often sweets, chocolate, soda, and ready-made meals. There is no real food, protein, or vegetables; while the people of Gaza have been grappling with malnutrition for two years. This is a strategy to exacerbate diseases.”
This Palestinian reporter completed her studies in Languages and Translation at Cairo University. All members of her extended family still live in Gaza and occasionally send her pictures. She reacts by saying: “I don’t recognize anything; everywhere has turned into a desert of rubble.”
The journey of Youmna El-Sayed and her children to Egypt came at a heavy financial cost to her father. In recent weeks, reports have also surfaced about some families traveling from Gaza to South Africa by paying amounts between $2,500 and $5,000. El-Sayed says about this: “Israel is facilitating the exit of families from Gaza because it is advancing its own plan. They want the people of Gaza to leave so they can continue the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians.”
Alnisa