Fares Akram
2,050 posts
Fares Akram
@faresakram
Journalist covering Gaza. Retweets not endorsement, etc.
Gaza via Toronto.
Joined June 2009
- This is our farm in northern #Gaza before and after an Israeli warplane hit it. Here I quarantined to escape the virus, but it’s not the best place to take shelter from bombings. The current raids are a reminiscent of the 2008 war when an airstrike killed my father in this farm.
- Bad news spreads fast, and it lingers even when we hope it's not true. After 12 hours of uncertainty, the heartbreaking confirmation came: my three nieces and their father were lost in an Israeli airstrike on their #Gaza City home. May they rest in peace.
- Late Friday, I got distressing news that an Israeli airstrike hit the #Gaza house where 10s of my relatives lived. With no internet & phone connection, it took 12 hours to confirm that 18 of my extended family members lost their lives & 18 others remain trapped under the rubble.
- And now bombs could fall on our office. We ran down the stairs from the 11th floor and now looking at the building from afar, praying Israeli army would eventually retract.
- Sat. images show our farm in north #Gaza before & after. This lush place served as our refuge & safe haven, where we stayed during Covid. It's also the site where Israeli warplanes killed my father in 2009, & now, the IDF wiped out the groves. A diary from my time there is below:
- My cherished optometrist, always kind and humble, divided his time between his upscale store and European workshops. His passion for fashion and sunglasses was infectious. Today, he, his family, and his brothers’ families perished in an Israeli airstrike on their Gaza City home.
- Israel unleashed an aerial offensive on Gaza, killing at least 8 Palestinians, including Islamic Jihad commander, 5y/o girl, & wounding 44. This follows days of full Israeli closure on Gaza. There was no fire from Gaza before & during the 1st two hours into the Israeli operation
- Latest update from that airstrike: 42 were killed, among them 16 women & 10 children. Digging up the rubble for people trapped beneath it is continuing 12 hours after the bombing.
- 3:30 pm update: 37 Palestinians shot dead by Israeli fire Monday in Gaza, highest single day death toll since summer 2014 war
- The last 1 to die by Israeli fire Friday is our friend and colleague, video journalist Yasser Mortaga. I saw him at the demonstration minutes before he was hit with a gunshot in the waist. RIP.
- #BreakingNews Israel’s military urges residents of east #Rafah (red areas) to evacuate to “expanded humanitarian area” (yellow) southwest of #Gaza Strip.
- While our lush citrus grove might offer some breathing space from the congestion and difficulties of city life, it’s no refuge. Read my story here from @AP
- Fatma, 19 months, waited over 3 months for Israeli permit to go to a Jerusalem hospital for treatment of a heart defect. She died last month at her #Gaza home and the permit never came. With @josephkrauss
