Cairo: Another day of conflict unfolded in Gaza, marking what 19-year-old Palestinian TikTok star Medo Halimy referred to as his “Tent Life.”
As he often did, Halimy headed to a local internet café—a makeshift tent with Wi-Fi—where displaced Palestinians could connect with the outside world. There, he met his friend and collaborator, 18-year-old Talal Murad. They captured a selfie together, captioned “Finally Reunited” on Instagram, and began to catch up.
Suddenly, a flash of light and a burst of heat shattered their moment. Murad felt a sharp pain in his neck, while Halimy was severely injured, bleeding from his head. A car on the coastal road near them had been struck by an Israeli airstrike, engulfing it in flames. An ambulance arrived 10 minutes later, but despite the effort, Halimy was pronounced dead a few hours later.
“He represented hope and strength,” Murad said on Friday, still recovering from his injuries and grappling with the loss of his friend. The Israeli military did not comment on the incident.
Tributes for Halimy poured in from around the globe, including Harker Heights, Texas, where he spent a year in 2021 through a State Department exchange program. “Medo was the heart of every gathering… His humor, kindness, and wit are unforgettable,” said Heba al-Saidi, the alumni coordinator for the Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study program. His untimely death sparked a wave of grief on social media, where his followers expressed their sorrow as if they had lost a close friend.
The ongoing Israeli campaign in Gaza, which began after Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel on October 7th, has claimed over 40,000 Palestinian lives, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The conflict has turned many ordinary teenagers into citizen journalists, documenting the harsh realities of life under siege for a global audience.
Murad, who worked with Halimy on “The Gazan Experience” Instagram account, described their content as a form of resistance, aiming to shed light on life in Gaza. Halimy had launched his own TikTok channel while taking refuge with his family in Muwasi, a southern coastal area designated as a humanitarian safe zone by Israel.
His videos offered a rare glimpse into the daily struggles and monotony of life in Gaza, capturing the attention of hundreds of thousands of viewers. Despite the ongoing conflict and personal tragedies, Halimy used humor to cope with his circumstances, often poking fun at the challenges he faced.
In his final video, recorded just hours before his death, Halimy is seen scribbling in a notebook at the tent café that would later be hit by an airstrike. “I started designs for my new secret project,” he says in his usual blend of playful and serious tones, unaware that it would be his last message to the world.
