Hassan Abu Warda, the 33-year-old Palestinian owner and director of the social media-based Barq Gaza news agency, was killed in the early hours of May 25, 2025, in an Israeli airstrike on his home in the Jabalia al-Nazla area of northern Gaza, along with several family members.
“Hassan, his mother, younger brother, and four displaced children from the neighboring house were all killed. His father sustained severe injuries," the journalist’s cousin, Mohamed Abu Warda, told CPJ.
"Hassan’s pregnant wife and their two children were not in the house at the time, as they were staying with her family. That’s what saved their lives," he added.
CPJ’s email seeking comment from the Israel Defense Forces’ North America Media Desk upon Abu Warda’s killing in 2025 did not receive an immediate response.
In June 2026, CPJ undertook a review of its documentation of journalists and media workers killed in the Israel-Gaza war since 2023.
As part of that review, which included desk research, CPJ identified an obituary published by Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) on Telegram in August 2026, that described Abu Warda as an operative in the “Sniper Unit.” The PIJ obituary did not specify when Abu Warda’s alleged affiliation or activity with the group occurred.
CPJ conducted additional desk research and interviewed five independent sources, who told the organization that Abu Warda worked as an active journalist throughout the latest war in Gaza and denied that he was engaged in combat. Two sources, however, did not rule out previous involvement in PIJ prior to 2023, while three denied any and all involvement with the group.
According to one source, Abu Warda broadcasted live on his TikTok account from northern Gaza the day before his killing, openly disclosing his location. The desk research yielded no results of images showing Abu Warda operating as a combatant.
Based on the totality of the information available, CPJ was unable to determine that Al-Faqaawi was an active combatant, and therefore, he remains classified as a journalist under the organization’s methodology, and has been retained in CPJ’s database.
This determination reflects the evidence available to CPJ following its verification process. CPJ continues to review its documentation when credible new information emerges and updates its records where warranted.