19-year-old from Gaza who became famous for posting refugee daily life on TikTok dies in airstrike

Medo Halimi, who was informing about the life of refugees in Gaza Strip. Photo captured from TikTok

There have been reports that Medo Halimi (19), who became famous for introducing the daily lives of Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip on social media TikTok, was killed in an Israeli airstrike.

According to the Associated Press on the 30th (local time), Halimi was struck by a bomb while going to meet a friend at an ‘Internet cafe’ tent with Wi-Fi access in the Mawashi refugee camp on the southern coast of the Gaza Strip on the 26th. Halimi was taken to the hospital but died a few hours later.

When the war broke out in October last year, Halimi and her six siblings and their parents fled from Gaza City in the northern part of the Gaza Strip to Khan Yunis in the south, and then moved to Mawashi, a “humanitarian zone” designated by Israel on the southern coast of Gaza.

Halimi became a ‘TikToker’ here. Starting with a 53-second video uploaded on May 21, she gained popularity by uploading content on TikTok that humorously captured the reality of the Gaza Strip.

The first post has over 2 million views. The video, shot in a makeshift shelter in a refugee camp, begins with English subtitles that say, “If you’re curious about what life is like in a tent.” Halimi then fills her free time by juggling objects in the air, playing the Arabic version of Monopoly, and doing laundry by hand, before ending with her going out to the beach to watch the sunset.

Videos of his daily life, such as showering with water drawn from jars without shampoo or soap, growing plants in discarded tin cans, and making spicy fish dishes, also received a lot of attention. Halimi’s last post was a video he uploaded a few hours before he died in an airstrike, saying, “I’ve started a new secret project.” After the news of his death, many netizens visited his TikTok account to post condolences.

“Halimi was a message of hope and strength,” Talal Murad, a friend who was with Halimi and was injured in the airstrike but survived, told AP.

Reporter Kim Ji-hye kim.jihye6@joongang.co.kr