Basil Ibrahim Faraj

Palestinian Media and Communication Company

January 7, 2009, in Gaza , Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory

Faraj, a 22-year-old cameraman, was part of a four-member television crew that was traveling in Gaza on December 27, 2008, when its car was hit by an Israeli airstrike, according to regional news reports. The crew was not the target of the attack, but was hit by shrapnel and debris from the strike, the reports said. 

Faraj’s crew had just completed an interview near Al-Wa’d Association for Prisoners, a Hamas-affiliated charitable organization dedicated to supporting Palestinians in Israeli custody, when the association’s building came under Israeli attack, Atif Issa, director general of the Palestinian Media and Communication Company‎, told CPJ. The crew, employed by the media company, was on assignment for Algerian TV.

All four crew members suffered injuries, but Faraj was the most critically wounded. He sustained a severe head injury and fell into a coma while in transit to Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City. He was later transferred to a hospital in Egypt where he was pronounced dead on January 7, according to news reports. 

Medium: Television

Job: Camera Operator

Beats Covered: Politics, War

Gender: Male

Local or Foreign: Local

Freelance: No

Type of Death: Crossfire/Combat-Related

Suspected Source of Fire: Military Officials

Related Articles:

• Journalists killed in Gaza , January 14, 2009
• Airstrike hits media building in Gaza, January 9, 2009