The idea has been circulating that northern Gaza is empty after a massive evacuation yesterday, but this is not true. This is propagated and supported by Israel so that they can freely commit atrocities in the north under the justification that no one there is a civilian. But there are still around 800,000 civilians in northern Gaza, and they are now facing increasing bombardment and starvation, with decreasing media coverage.
Most journalists who were in north Gaza have evacuated to the south, and that includes most or all of the best-known, English-speaking journalists with the highest follower counts. They are trying to share information from northern Gaza, but they already have a catastrophic situation to document in the south.
There are a few journalists and other social media users still in northern Gaza, but their accounts have a smaller following and they mostly post in Arabic, so the English-speaking world is not circulating their updates. These people have chosen to remain in extreme danger in order to document the ongoing atrocities in northern Gaza, but are receiving very little engagement with their content.
I will post the journalists and other Instagram users in north Gaza of whom I am aware. Please follow with them and engage with their content, so that the world doesn’t let Israel carry out genocide in northern Gaza in silence. I will add some translation resources/suggestions at the bottom of this post.
I will post Instagram usernames with links to their profiles, as well as provide their names if I can, as well as some details about who they are, from where in north Gaza they are posting, and details about what they’re saying. This is not a complete list, and there are a few people in this list who may not be in north Gaza, but I can’t distinguish their location and they’re sharing content from north Gaza. I apologize in advance for any and all errors I have made and will fix or update them as they appear to me.
Journalists and other people posting from north Gaza as of Saturday November 11th:
abomoaaz23 (Mostafa Abu Mouath, journalist, Al Shifa Hospital)
wadeaa_.9 (Wadea Abu Alsaoud, journalist, Al Shifa Hospital)
nooh.xp (Nooh Al Shaghnobi)
ferasalajrami (Feras Al Ajrami, journalist)
almajd_free (Mahmoud Abusalama, journalist, around Indonesian Hospital)
abdullahobead (Abdullah Ebead, journalist, Indonesian Hospital, was nearly killed with some of his colleagues today when they stepped out of the hospital to check on the neighborhood around them. Israel sees their press jackets and targets them. His last livestream had only about 130 viewers and he described being shot at, and some people having to eat cardboard because they are completely out of food and have no way to get more.)
anasjamal44 (Anas Al Sharif, journalist, Indonesian Hospital)
saleemaburass (Saleem Z Aburas, relief coordinator for Palestine Red Crescent society, located at Al Quds Hospital and reporting tanks and snipers surrounding the premises, killing anyone who moves, even to try to treat the wounded. They are out of water, food, and electricity.)
ezz.lulu (Ezedeen Lulu, medical student volunteering at Al Shifa, one of the few medical staff to remain at Al Shifa to treat patients.)
hossam_shbat (Hossam Shbat, journalist, Indonesian Hospital)
sami_tabak_2 (Sami Abu Tabak)
fadi_alwhidi (Fadi Alwhidi, photographer, Indonesian Hospital/Jabaliya, managed to go to the market earlier today with hundreds of other Gazans but they all had to flee after Israel began shelling the area)
abd.sabbah (Abed Alqadr Sabaah, photographer and videographer)
najjart_1 (Tamer Mazen, engineering researcher and trainer)
m_abuowda11 (Momina Abu Owda, photographer)
ahmed.hamdan8 (Ahmed Hamdan, journalist, Indonesian Hospital)
hassan_zaqout00 (Hassan Zaqout, artist and medical professional at Al Shifa)
princekouta (Medical professional at Al Shifa, one of the last to stay behind to care for the injured. Reports Al Shifa is surrounded on all sides and no one can go in or out, bring anything in or out, or treat anyone outside the hospital, as Israel shoots at anyone who tries. Reports that many were killed or injured inside the hospital after an oxygen line exploded due to bombardment.)
mohanned_rayyen96 (Mohanned Rayyen, journalist, Jabalia)
abood0_8 (Abood Abo Salama, photographer, Indonesian Hospital)
abo_khaled_4u (Mohammed Saber Arab, journalist, Indonesian Hospital)
ahmed_al_arini22 (Ahmed Al Arini, journalist/videographer/editor, Indonesian Hospital and Beit Lahia)
nofal_i (Ibrahim Nohal, around the Indonesian Hospital)
hosalem (Hosam Salem, photojournalist)
marah_at99 (Marah Attaallah, journalist)
tawfiqhemaid (Tawfiq Hemaid, Jabalia)
saber.nuraldin (Mohammed Saber, photographer and journalist)
maqadema (Ahmed Maqadema, journalist, Gaza City)
on Instagram mobile, there is usually a button at the bottom of Arabic text on photos, stories, and bios that says “translate” and will translate the text into English. It’s not perfect, but you should get the general idea of what’s being said.
princekouta posts mostly in English, nearly all of his videos with updates from Al Shifa are in English.
Some of these posters, such as fuad.kh.ps_ and najjart_1, also post small blurbs in English describing their Arabic text and/or audio.
Sometimes on livestreams in Arabic, if you ask in the chat, someone will summarize what the person is saying and translate it into English. The host *may* also speak in English if they see your question, but do not count on it happening and absolutely do NOT pester them. Their internet access is extremely limited and they are stressed beyond human comprehension, they do not need entitled anglophones interrupting their updates with demands and tantrums. You can also record their livestreams and, if you can POLITELY find someone who can translate Arabic to English, send it to them for translation.
Additionally, there’s a fantastic account called translating_gaza that translates videos from people in Gaza from Arabic into English. If you DM them a video and ask them to translate it, they may do so. Note that they are completely inundated with requests, are struggling with technical issues and IG censorship, and are a small purely volunteer team, and they cannot possibly translate every request they receive. Follow them regardless, because they are a fantastic resource for non-Arabic English speakers.