Lama Abu Jamous has over 840,000 followers on Instagram. She publishes her interviews every day to tell the horror of war and the daily lives of children under the bombs.
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On several videos from her Instagram and TikTok accounts, Lama shows her bulletproof vest, much too big for her, and her blue helmet, labeled “press”. She says she is ready to go cover the war in Gaza. She is the youngest reporter in the enclave and she interviews those around her, other journalists and even doctors while the fighting rages in Gaza.
“I published my first video in Khan Younès, it was on Instagram, says the little girl. They bombed my aunt’s house. My aunt, her husband and their children were quietly at home. And suddenly, there was no one left. So I wanted to show this suffering, to show what they are doing to us, to show the truth to everyone.”
But before being a reporter, Lama is a victim of war. Like three out of four Gazans, she left her home. She now lives in Rafah, in the south of the enclave, the last refuge for hundreds of thousands of civilians who have fled the war. The little girl anxiously awaits the new Israeli offensive.
“I want to forget the noise of war, the explosions, the bombs, the artillery, the shooting. I really would like to forget everything, but I can’t. Everything is etched in memory.”
Lama Abu Jamous, 9 years old, Palestinian reporteron his Instagram account
The 9-year-old girl has two wishes: first, that the war stops. And then, she says, that she can return home, to Gaza City, and meet all her school friends as quickly as possible.
In Gaza, some 550,000 people face catastrophic food insecurity, according to the UN food and agriculture agency.