Bassam Faiq Hassouna
بسام فائق حسونة
General Director for the Ministry of Culture office in Gaza;
Killed by Israel using Small Arms Fire
Killed by Israel on 20 Mar 2024
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Archivist Notes
Bassam Hassouna, (1973–2024), was a Palestinian writer and journalist, director of the Ministry of Culture office in the Gaza Strip, and a member of the Central Committee of the Palestinian Democratic Union (FIDA).
He studied journalism and media at the University of Gaza, where he later earned a master's degree in public relations and media. His research focused on the role of Palestinian media in supporting and documenting the plight of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons. He was also a committed advocate for prisoners and their families.
Known for being articulate and comfortable on camera, Hassouneh regularly covered community, cultural and political events and appeared on television, including Al Jazeera, Al-Aqsa TV and Palestine TV. He also worked with the Ministry of Culture, was active in the Palestine Liberation Organization, and belonged to FIDA (Palestinian Democratic Union). He encouraged young journalists and had been preparing to begin a PhD at Mansoura University in Egypt when the genocide began in October 2023.
Journalist Bassam Hassouna was killed on Wednesday 20 March by a shell that directly hit him in the head while Al-Shifa Hospital was being targeted with shells.
According to investigations by the field researcher for MADA Center, during the siege of Al-Shifa Complex by the occupation soldiers on Wednesday, the soldiers targeted the areas surrounding the hospital with tank shells. Journalist Bassam Hassouna, who works in the media department of the Ministry of Culture, was in the house of his relatives from Al-Shurafa family near the Hospital, accompanied by fifty (50) family members. The shells that targeted the hospital reached the house where the journalist and others were, and he was hit directly in the head by a shell that led to his immediate death. Ambulances were unable to reach the place, and the family placed the body at the door of the house waiting for the ambulance to arrive.
According to the testimony of the journalist Hanan al-Reefee, when Israeli forces had reached Al-Shifa Hospital, "he was displaced along with his wife’s family, the al-Shurafas. They lived behind Al-Shifa. Bassam had been displaced with his wife's family and more than 100 of their relatives" Journalist Bassam Hassouna was killed during a brutal Israeli assault around Al-Shifa Hospital, amid continuous gunfire, mass casualties, and reports of bodies being crushed and buried by bulldozers. As displaced families sheltered nearby with almost no food, a quadcopter opened heavy fire in direction of the apartment. A bullet struck his ear and exited through his neck, killing him instantly as he held a cup of tea. His family retrieved his body under fire, but the building was later demolished with his body and others still inside. Several of his wife's relatives were also killed. Days later, after the army withdrew, Bassam's body was recovered and buried.