Al Jazeera World

Gaza: The Last Picture

A Palestinian cameraman records the 2014 Israeli assault on Shujayea, including the final moments of his own life.

On July 8, 2014, Israel launched Operation Protective Edge, aimed at stopping alleged rocket fire from Gaza into the occupied territories.

One of the most densely populated neighbourhoods in the Gaza Strip, Shujayea was claimed by Israel to be the site of Hamas “terror tunnels”. 

We'll teach generations to come how to convey our message to the world.

by Hamed al-Shobaky, cameraman

The attack started late on July 19, initiating 24 hours of sustained air bombardment and artillery fire.

An American military officer talking to Al Jazeera said 11 Israeli artillery battalions fired around 7,000 shells into Shujayea over that 24-hour period, in which at least 65 Palestinians were killed and 288 wounded.

One paramedic reported more than 200 calls for help at the peak of demand, one from virtually every house on targeted streets.

The emergency services responded to every callout with scant regard for their own safety.

In this film, cameraman Khaled Hamad joins local paramedics in Shujayea as they attend to the dead and wounded at the height of the raid. Risking his life, he documents the atrocities committed against civilians in the neighbourhood during Operation Protective Edge.

A number of journalists were killed. News photographer Rami Rayan died while shooting stills of a busy market where locals were shopping during a brief humanitarian truce.

Knowing the risks, Hamad continues to film until his camera dramatically captures the raid in which he and paramedic Fouad Jaber come under direct attack.

Paramedics, Hamad’s fellow journalists and family all maintain that Israel targeted journalists in order to try and minimise coverage of what the Palestinians described as a “massacre”.

Most of the footage in the film is Hamad’s, his camera never stops shooting even after he is struck, and continues rolling long after he has taken his final breath.