Rashdi and Mahmoud Al-Siraj: Photojournalists Who Embodied Steadfastness and Humanity Until Rockets from Occupying Forces Shattered Their Dreams

Roshdy and Mahmoud al-Siraj .. Press Satellites Produced by: Amina Ghanam

Remaining in your homeland means challenging the occupying power, which will make you a legitimate target. Photojournalist journalist martyr Roshdy al-Siraj refused to leave Gaza except to the sky; martyrdom was the final outcome of his steadfastness.

Roshdy al-Siraj, a photojournalist, was born in 1992 in Gaza City, where he grew up and attended school. His childhood was like that of many Palestinian children, and he dreamed of a future unlike the painful image he had known. He married Shorouq al-Aila and they had one daughter, Dania, about whom he said on her birthday: “Dania is from the heart, so we named her Dania.”

Roshdy stood out in his work. He was one of the founders of the Gaza-based company “Ain Media” with his companion martyr journalist Yasser Murtaja, who was killed during the Great March of Return in 2018. Roshdy served as its editor-in-chief, worked as an accredited photographer for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), and covered field events for international media outlets.

He also worked as a production coordinator for other media, including the French public radio RFI, where he coordinated the work of foreign journalists in the area and assisted with translations, helping to facilitate media coverage of events in Gaza.

A desperate attempt to extinguish the light

His wife, journalist and filmmaker Shorouq al-Aila, considered her husband’s killing a desperate attempt to silence the image and extinguish the light after the occupation’s rockets destroyed everything they hit in Gaza — people, buildings, institutions and homes — as part of the campaign of annihilation being waged in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023.

She said of losing Roshdy: “I did not only lose my life partner; I lost my support and my inspiration. We had planned our future together, but I am forced, for Dania’s sake, to complete it alone, full of sorrow that this child will grow up an orphan.”

Shorouq described her husband as ever-renewed, full of hope and dreams. He dreamed of breaking Gaza’s siege walls and gaining international recognition, hoping Gaza would have an unconquerable voice, but the occupation did not give him time — the rockets of death struck.

Shorouq restarted filming amid danger, not only out of loyalty to her martyr husband but out of loyalty to wounded Gaza and to be a voice for Gazans under siege and amid the rubble. Despite what happened, she did not stop her struggle; she stood up again, trying to continue both her work and her husband’s. She received the “2024 International Press Freedom Award” in recognition of her courage in reporting the war.

The last morning

On October 13, 2023, rockets rained on Gaza relentlessly and the greatest challenge for Palestinians was to remain resilient. Roshdy wrote on his Facebook page: “We will not leave… we will leave Gaza to the sky… and to the sky only.”

A week later, Roshdy, his wife and daughter moved to his father’s house — Dr. Yahya al-Siraj, mayor of Gaza — in the Tal al-Hawa neighborhood in the west of the city. On the morning of October 22, rockets began striking the neighborhood and one bomb hit a house near theirs. They went down to the basement, and another rocket struck their home.

Roshdy suffered a severe injury while his wife and daughter sustained less serious wounds. His family transferred him to Al-Quds Hospital, but within minutes he succumbed to a serious head wound.

Roshdy was killed while refusing to flee and surrender to the grim reality of war; he died carrying dreams larger than the destruction of Gaza.

Mahmoud and the pain of loss

After Roshdy’s death, his brother Mahmoud endured the pain of separation. The bond between the brothers was exceptional: despite work pressures, they always made time for family and friends, knowing those moments could not be replaced.

Mahmoud was born on August 6, 2000, in Gaza City. From a young age he showed a strong interest in photojournalism and media, which led him to study the field and continuously develop his skills. He was known among colleagues for his high professionalism and his commitment to conveying the truth with honesty and integrity.

Mahmoud was also known for his love for others and his constant desire to help those in need. His generous spirit and abundant humanity were prominent traits of his personality.

Roshdy and Mahmoud al-Siraj

The price of humanity

On March 15, 2025, Mahmoud was on a journalistic assignment covering a humanitarian activity by the British “Al-Khair” foundation in the town of Beit Lahia. While the team was preparing to depart, an Israeli drone targeted the vehicle they were in, killing nine people, including Mahmoud al-Siraj as well as his journalist colleagues Bilal Akila and Mohammad al-Ghafir, along with their assistants.

Roshdy and Mahmoud, along with dozens of Palestinian photographers and journalists, were killed. The primary reason for targeting them remains the occupying power’s desperate attempt to conceal the truth of the mass killings being carried out in the Gaza Strip. The occupier may silence the voice, but it cannot bury the truth.