By Nurah Tape – The Palestine Chronicle 
Social media has allowed millions around the world to not only gain a first-hand account of Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza but to emotionally connect with those who are sharing their lives from the besieged enclave.
One such Gazan was Mohammad Halimy known as Medo on his Instagram and TikTok platforms.
“Just a Gazan trying to live the life” his Instagram bio stated.
Halimy, 19, was killed on Monday after reportedly being hit by shrapnel from a nearby blast caused by an Israeli missile strike in Khan Yunis.
In his final video posted hours before he was killed, Halimy provided a glimpse into his day living in a tent, calling it “tent life”. It included images of “designs for my new secret project.”
Halimy and his family were among millions forced to flee their home when Israel’s military onslaught on Gaza began in the wake of the October 7 resistance operation.
With a following of more than 250,000 on Instagram and TikTok, Halimy shared videos of the reality of living through a genocide.
This is the final video from 19-year-old Palestinian vlogger Medo Halimy who was injured by shrapnel while with friends on the beach in Gaza during an Israeli airstrike on 26 August, causing him to fall into a coma and later die from his injuries.
FOLLOW OUR LIVE BLOG… pic.twitter.com/xYD8jIEtjo
— The Palestine Chronicle (@PalestineChron) August 30, 2024
‘Planting Each Day’
In June he began documenting what he called “a new hobby” from his tent in an encampment near the beach in al-Mawasi.
Despite saying he was not “really an expert” he began growing food such as lima beans and mint documenting his hobby in a series of “Planting Each Day Until This War is Over” posts.
Taking advice from his followers, he even began planting watermelons – a symbol for Palestine.
By July, he had a few plants making up his “little farm” as he called it.
‘It’s Not Easy’
In one of his videos captioned ‘Important’, Halimy responded to a comment questioning the lack of water and food in Gaza.
Halimy said: “I’m just showing you the 1% of my life … I’m a positive person … you guys have no idea what we’ve been through, we’ve been through hell… and I’m telling you … I don’t wish this experience for anyone, not even my enemies.”
“What I’ve been through is not easy. Just imagine a life with no electricity, very scarce amount of drinking water, very scarce amount of food, which is not even food, it’s just canned food, and it’s scarce. I haven’t had real chicken in so long, real meat in so long, we just have canned food, which is super unhealthy.”
Israel killed Medo Halimy in his tent with an air strike. the young man who showed us what life in a tent refugee camp was like. planted a garden around his tent. and loved swimming and drinking coffee with his friends. pic.twitter.com/ontp7Tkr4k
— Talal Mtabbal 🔻🔻 (@wickedseahag) August 27, 2024
Halimy, who said he had experienced at least three deaths in the past few months, often documented the challenges of obtaining drinking water in the enclave, and also the simple food that he and his family managed to make in their tent.
At one point he posted ‘Sorry, I haven’t posted in a while, I was sick from all the fake food we’re having.”
In June, Halimy’s grandmother died “because of the poor medical care and lack of medication” in the enclave, he said.
Last week he shared about his 11-year-old cousin who was killed in an Israeli airstrike, “3 minutes” after kissing his mother and telling her “he loved her.”
“She didn’t know it was a goodbye kiss,” wrote Halimy, adding “He didn’t deserve that… he is not a number, none of them are! … No one deserves this.”
‘The World Failed You, Medo’
Halimy’s killing was met with grief and anger by his social media followers.
“And now they have killed another person that we love. Israel doesn’t realize that we love these people they have become our family and we will not forgive or forget, and I speak for millions of people, Muslim and non-Muslim in every country of the world,” one follower commented.
Another said: “I cannot bring myself to believe, I am so sorry that the world failed you Medo.”
While another commented: “I looked forward to your videos everyday. To make sure you were still alive, to see your garden thriving. The garden will keep growing, it will keep thriving when others try to destroy it, just like the people of Gaza and Palestine.”
Major in Psychology
Halimy, like many others in Gaza, had a GoFundMe account to help his family “rebuild their life.”
According to the appeal, Halimy said he had planned to return to the US after spending a year there as a high school senior.
“I was planning on going back to the USA for college and I wanted to major in psychology and then after that continue my studies and become a psychiatrist to help as many people as I can.”
“Today I am writing this while in a tent in Rafah, right next to the Egyptian border trying to raise money to help me and my family evacuate and leave the Gaza Strip,” he wrote, adding to “have a life, and continue with my dreams and my family’s dreams.”
According to Gaza’s Ministry of Health, 40,602 Palestinians have been killed, and 93,855 wounded in Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza starting on October 7.
Moreover, at least 11,000 people are unaccounted for, presumed dead under the rubble of their homes throughout the Strip.
(The Palestine Chronicle)
– Nurah Tape is a South Africa-based journalist. She is an editor with The Palestine Chronicle.
