Plestia Alaqad is a Palestinian journalist and poet.
14 Facts About Plestia Alaqad
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Plestia Alaqad gained international attention for her daily coverage of the Gaza war, which began on 7 October 2023, by way of her social media accounts.
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Plestia Alaqad was born on 10 December 2001 and grew up in the Gaza Strip.
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Plestia Alaqad has an older brother and a younger sister.
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Plestia Alaqad's mother is the former head of the American International School in Gaza's middle school.
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Plestia Alaqad attended the American International School in the city of Beit Lahia, and later enrolled at Eastern Mediterranean University in what is Northern Cyprus to study New Media and Journalism, graduating in 2022.
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Plestia Alaqad previously worked as a human resources professional at a marketing agency while gathering a small online following on Instagram in her free time.
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Plestia Alaqad regularly conducted media training as well, in addition to engaging in freelance journalism.
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Shortly after the Israeli government declared that it was imposing a "total blockade" on the Gaza Strip, Plestia Alaqad began documenting the effects of the Israeli bombardment campaign and posted the video diaries to her Instagram account.
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Plestia Alaqad's videos have been shared by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, the British Broadcasting Corporation, Business Today, The Independent, The New York Times, PBS NewsHour, and The Washington Post.
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Plestia Alaqad was interviewed by the GB News Breakfast Show for an inquiry on how Gazans' lives had been affected by the war.
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In light of the intensity of the Israeli military's offensive and the high Palestinian death toll accompanying it, Plestia Alaqad has accused Israel of waging a genocidal war against the Palestinian people.
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In February 2024, Plestia Alaqad took part in the Bankstown Poetry Slam in the city of Sydney, where she presented poetry that she had written about the war in her diary while she was in the Gaza Strip.
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In December 2024, Plestia Alaqad was included on the BBC's 100 Women list, and shared Amnesty International Australia's inaugural Human Rights Defender Award with Palestinian journalists Bisan Owda, Anas Al-Sharif, and Ahmed Shihab-Eldin.