Amid the ruins of war-torn Gaza, 30-year-old Basem Alhabel stands wearing a flak jacket and helmet, signing into his camera as bullets whiz by and people lie on the ground for cover. Known online as a “deaf journalist in Gaza,” Alhabel is using his Instagram platform to bring the realities of the nearly two-year conflict to deaf communities and audiences worldwide.
Through sign language, Alhabel documents the impact of Israeli air strikes, mass displacement, and mounting starvation. Gaza’s health authorities say more than 60,000 people have been killed since the war erupted in October 2023, when Hamas-led militants attacked Israel, triggering massive retaliation.
“I wished to get my voice out to the world and the voices of the deaf people who cannot speak or hear, so that someone can help us,” he said via interpreter and friend Mohammed Moshtaha.
Alhabel’s Instagram, followed by 141,000 people, features stark images of emaciated children, destroyed neighborhoods, and desperate families. In one video, he shows residents scooping flour mixed with sand from the ground, echoing warnings from global hunger monitors that Gaza faces imminent famine.
Displaced at the start of the war, Alhabel and his family lived for a year and a half in a crowded school-turned-shelter. Now, he edits videos from a tent, one of many where Palestinians seek refuge.
His work continues as Israel’s political-security cabinet moves ahead with plans to seize Gaza City, despite mounting international criticism.
“We want this situation to be resolved so that we can all be happy, so I can feed my children, and life can be beautiful,” Alhabel said.
Written By Rodney Mbua
