Mohammed Qreiqeh

محمد محمد قاسم قريقع

journalist

Al Jazeera

Maha Hussaini, MEE journalist, wrote: I worked with Mohammed Qreiqeh for many months during the early stages of Israel’s war on Gaza, and before he started with Al Jazeera. I was forcibly displaced in southern Gaza, while he remained in the north, refusing to evacuate or abandon his responsibilities there. Through our collaboration, I documented numerous crimes in the north, which I published in reports for Middle East Eye. Mohammed would go into the field to gather testimonies and eyewitness accounts in places I couldn’t reach, due to the Israeli separation of the north from the south, and he even felt responsible for informing me about crimes that the media had not yet learned about. He felt it was his duty to expose what was happening. Muhammed Abudahrouj, photojournalist, wrote: I was with Mohammed Qreiqeh most of the time, and he would always say, “Do you think we’ll stay alive?” and constantly repeat, “I won’t last long.” Mohammed was deeply affected by his mother’s killing in an Israeli raid on al-Shifa hospital in April 2024. Every time we went out to cover something, he would say, “Do you think we’ll make it back?” and then laugh. Rasha Farhat, Palestinian journalist currently outside Gaza, wrote: I have known Mohammed Qreiqeh for a long time. He was calm, elegant and handsome. When he first appeared on Al Jazeera, I said it was a very successful choice because he had experience in television presenting. I remember when his mother was martyred, how much pain he had and how deeply heartbroken he was over losing her. He would always say, “Oh blessing, oh mother,” and express how much he missed her. I always felt that Mohammed would not find peace until he reunited with his mother, and that’s exactly what happened. Mustafa al-Banna, Palestinian journalist currently outside Gaza, wrote: I have known Mohammed Qreiqeh since 2014. He was a young man of good character, pleasant company, kind-hearted and humble. During this war, Mohammed emerged as one of the most prominent journalists who made it their noble mission to convey the truth and expose the Israeli genocide, fully aware that this path could very well end in death. His strong and proficient Arabic language, expressions and terminology were his weapons in front of the camera, enabling him to provide a truthful depiction of the reality that the Israeli occupation desperately sought to prevent from being exposed or silenced. Yahya al-Yaqobi, journalist, posted on Facebook: Yesterday, I met Mohammed Qreiqeh at the mourning house of Palestinian footballer Suleiman al-Obeid, and we prepared a story about him. He welcomed me, as usual, with his familiar smile and kind words, then finished his report and ended it with a sentence that stuck in my mind: “Suleiman, or the Pelé of Palestine, who the crowds always carried victorious from matches, was carried as a martyr on their shoulders.” Then he left and I finished my report, and today I took part in carrying Mohammed’s body. What a hard irony it is when the witness becomes a martyr, and the one who conveys the story becomes the news and the story, in a time when standards have been overturned and journalists who convey the news have become targets.