Gaza-based journalist Bayan Abusultan is alive
Gaza-based journalist Bayan Abusultan announced she is alive on March 29th, after an unusual absence from her social media pages, according to The New Arab and agencies.
Since the conflict began, Abusultan has been sharing on her social media platforms the exceptionally dire condition of the Strip: in fact, as of today, at least 32,623 Palestinians have been killed and the remaining face an imminent famine due to water and food shortages.
READ: World Bank warns Gaza facing impending famine
Nevertheless, Abusultan has disappeared from all platforms since March 19th, when she reported the killing of her brother on X, formerly Twitter.
“Israeli forces just murdered my only brother in front of my eyes,” claimed Bayan before disappearing for ten days.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) declared that the journalist was last seen close to the Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, target of frequent raids by the Israel Defence Forces.
Her absence raised concerns, sparking a #SaveBayan campaign on X. Moreover, RFS requested that the Israeli army “immediately sheds light” on her disappearance.
READ: Rights group says Gaza most dangerous war ever for journalists
On March 29th, the reporter shared a picture of herself captioned “alive” on her Instagram stories and was also active on X, where she stated “I survived” relieving the concerns of her followers and fellow journalists.
This isn’t the first time concerns were raised about Abusultan’s safety. During a telecommunications blackout imposed by Israel in November of last year, she wrote: “When I go silent for long, it either means that I got no internet connection, that my battery died, or that I died.”
On February 15th, the President of the Committee to Protect Journalists Jodie Ginsberg, claimed that the ongoing conflict is “unprecedented in terms of the threat to journalists” as 75 percent of journalists killed worldwide are Palestinians.
“Once again, Israeli forces are [threatening] us to leave our houses in western Gaza City as it’s part of their “Combat zone,” (…) Well, it’s part of where I live. And I have no problem staying here until it becomes where I die too”, posted Abusultan on her X account on March 18th.
The New Arab and agencies
