Alaqad is a Palestinian journalist and author who, at 21, gained international recognition for her daily coverage of the Gaza war on social media, before fleeing Gaza in November 2023. Her storytelling earned her major honors, including BBC’s 100 Women of 2024, One Young World’s Journalist of the Year 2024, the Lyra McKee Award for Bravery, Amnesty International Australia’s Human Rights Defender Awards, and the Sophie Trevitt Human Rights Award 2025. She recently released The Eyes of Gaza, based on her 45-day war diary, which became a bestseller featured by The New York Times, and National Indie, among others. She has over four million Instagram followers.