TikToker who documented life in Gaza killed by shrapnel from airstrike in Khan Younis

Every evening, Medo Halimy would make his way to the Brand Cafe by the Mediterranean sea in west Khan Younis to relax after a day's work. 

Before the war, Halimy was a student at Gaza's Al-Azhar University, studying political science and economics. After, he spent his time making TikTok videos to document daily life in Gaza. His videos — showing what life was like living in tents at an internally displaced people's camp, trying to grow a garden in the camp, and even the struggles of charging his tech — got thousands of views. 

On Tuesday, Halimy, 19, met with an old friend, Talal Murad, 18, at the cafe on Al-Rashid street, this time at noon. Suddenly, shrapnel from a nearby airstrike hit both teens. Though Murad suffered only minor injuries, Halimy later died.

Gaza medics said several Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis killed multiple people Tuesday, according to Reuters.  

In a statement to CBC News, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said they were not aware of strikes taking place in the area on Tuesday. 

Remembering his best friend

On Thursday, sitting at the Brand Cafe with CBC News freelance videographer Mohamed El Saife, Murad said he hadn't seen Halimy for two weeks, an abnormal occurrence for the best friends, even during the war. 

"I really missed him and I came here to see him and he was so excited because he bought a new phone," Murad said. "We took some pictures with the phone, but sadly he was killed." 

"I lost a big part of myself," said Murad, looking at the empty seat next to him. He says he and Halimy had been friends since middle school and did almost everything together, including making videos they posted to TikTok. 

"It feels so strange that he isn't here." 

Family navigated war together

Halimy's parents and siblings, along with his uncle's family, navigated the war together, according to his father, Adi Al-Halimy. 

When they left their home in Gaza City, he says they needed four cars to get the whole family out of the northern part of the strip to a designated safe zone. They now live together in multiple tents in Khan Younis.

In tears, Halimy's father told El Saife on Thursday that his son was always "special." 

"He made people abroad feel the suffering of the people in the tents" in Gaza, Al-Halimy said.  

Some of Halimy's videos got over two million views on Tiktok. His last one, titled "tent life," was a look at a typical day in his life, from the moment he woke up until he went to bed. 

The Al-Halimy family was displaced on Oct. 7 following the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel which killed 1,200 people and saw some 250 others taken hostage in Gaza. Israel's retaliatory offensive has since killed 40,000 people in the Gaza Strip, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. 

On Aug. 15, a statement by United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said that 130 Palestinians have been killed every day over the ten months since the war started. 

"Most of them are women and children," said Turk, noting this situation is because of the "recurring failures by the Israel Defence Forces to comply with the rules of war." 

Israel has criticized Hamas for using human shields, claiming militants hide themselves and weapons in hospitals and schools where civilians are sheltering. Hamas denies the claims, saying Israel does not consider the thousands of civilians caught in the crossfires of war. 

Halimy's father told El Saife that the family had been displaced multiple times since Oct. 7, moving between Khan Younis and Rafah in southern Gaza, bordering Egypt. In late April, the IDF began preparing to launch operations in Rafah, which sent the Al-Halimy family back to Khan Younis where they've been ever since. 

Al-Halimy says his son's videos showed the world "how the people of Gaza feel" during the war. 

"They're being tortured," he said.

Back in Khan Younis, Halimy's father and brother sat with his uncle and cousins in a circle, holding back tears as they looked at photos of Medo on their phones and watched his videos. 

"Medo was always a positive person who loved life," said his brother, Zaid Al-Halimy who vowed to continue Halimy's work making videos to document life in Gaza during the war. 

"We will keep working on his dream and spread his message to the entire world."