Mahmoud Mushtaha

Mahmoud Mushtaha is a Gaza-based freelance journalist and human rights activist.

Recent Articles
Palestinians fleeing from the fighting in parts of Khan Younis to Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, January 26, 2024. (Atia Mohammed/Flash90)
I got out of Gaza. But I’m still trapped by the war
I left my family in Shuja’iya, crossed an Israeli army checkpoint, and spent weeks in a tent in Rafah in order to leave the Strip. The decision still haunts me.
By Mahmoud Mushtaha April 20, 2024
Palestinians walk amid the rubble of Shuja'iya, northern Gaza, February, 2024. (Mohammed Hajjar)
‘We scream, starve, and die alone’: Life in the ruins of Shuja’iya
Israel’s month-long invasion of the Gaza City neighborhood left behind a trail of devastation. Still under siege, its Palestinian residents are risking death to get their hands on a bag of flour.
By Mahmoud Mushtaha March 16, 2024
Palestinian gather as humanitarian aid arrives on Al-Rashid Street, northern Gaza Strip, February 28, 2024. (Omar El Qattaa)
Survivors of Gaza aid convoy massacre describe ‘indiscriminate’ Israeli fire
Palestinian eyewitnesses say troops shot directly at a starving crowd trying to get flour for their families, killing and wounding many in the mayhem.
By Mahmoud Mushtaha March 5, 2024
Palestinians walk through rubble of houses destroyed by Israeli airstrikes in the Jabalia area, northern Gaza Strip, October 11, 2023. (Atia Mohammed/Flash90)
These words are penned in hunger from northern Gaza. I have little energy to go on
From the daily indignity of searching for food to the extreme dangers of doing journalistic work, life in this dark corner of the earth has become impossible.
By Mahmoud Mushtaha February 29, 2024
Palestinians inspect their destroyed house after an Israeli airstrike in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, February 8, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
‘What use is this court if it can’t stop the war?’ Gazans react to ICJ ruling
Many Palestinians in Gaza feel dismayed by the ICJ’s failure to demand a ceasefire, fearing its provisional measures will do little to halt the bloodshed.
By Mahmoud Mushtaha and Ruwaida Kamal Amer February 9, 2024
Palestinians line up to buy bread at a bakery in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, January 4, 2024. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
‘It’s like living in a mortuary, waiting for someone to bury you’
With Israel isolating the northern Strip, displaced Palestinians in Gaza City are grappling with the immediate perils of starvation and disease.
By Mahmoud Mushtaha January 11, 2024
Palestinians search for survivors in a house belonging to the Al-Zahar family, after an Israeli airstrike in the city of Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, October 31, 2023. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
Surviving a day in Gaza means facing the danger of the next
Desperate for hope, Palestinians are trying to find 'safe zones' on an incomprehensible Israeli army map, even as they know there are none.
By Mahmoud Mushtaha December 6, 2023
Young Palestinians wait for a hot meal prepared by volunteers, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, November 10, 2023. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
Palestinians fear ‘slow death’ as hunger and thirst spread in Gaza
Israel’s assault has created a severe food and water crisis, with bakeries, shops, and local authorities unable to meet the population's minimum needs.
By Mahmoud Mushtaha November 14, 2023
Palestinians examine the ruins of the five-storey house of the Batniji and Badrasawi families after it was targeted by an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza City, October 7, 2023. (Mohammed Zaanoun/Activestills)
Our children hear Israeli troops getting closer. How can we comfort them?
As I write these words, Israel’s ground offensive is penetrating into Gaza City. But we remain determined to tell our stories and hold onto our humanity.
By Mahmoud Mushtaha November 9, 2023
Palestinians search a house after an Israeli air strike, in the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, October 12 2023. (Abed Rahim Khatib/Flash90)
If we survive the bombs, what will remain of our lives?
My friend, killed in an Israeli airstrike, dreamed of traveling the world with me. We can’t make plans in Gaza when a soldier can turn our future into rubble.
By Mahmoud Mushtaha October 24, 2023
Most Read
  1. ‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza
  2. Why human agency is still central to Israel’s AI-powered warfare
  3. Six months after October 7, a lament for the paths not chosen
  4. Remembering Walid Daqqa, a prisoner with a ‘heretical belief in life’
  5. From the river to the sea, Israel is waging the same war
  1. ‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza
  2. Six months after October 7, a lament for the paths not chosen
  3. ‘The soldiers opened the way for the settlers’: Pogroms surge across West Bank
  4. The unexceptional violence of Israel’s ‘Haredi battalion’
  5. ‘A mass assassination factory’: Inside Israel’s calculated bombing of Gaza
  1. ‘Lavender’: The AI machine directing Israel’s bombing spree in Gaza
  2. ‘A mass assassination factory’: Inside Israel’s calculated bombing of Gaza
  3. Even without a UN veto, Gaza remains hostage to American power
  4. Why do Israelis feel so threatened by a ceasefire?
  5. Six months after October 7, a lament for the paths not chosen