Awni El-Dous (2010 or 2011 – 7 October 2023)^{[lower-alpha 1]} was a Palestinian YouTuber. His content centred around making gaming videos without commentary, with videos on PUBG Mobile and Pro Evolution Soccer 2017 among others.^[2][3] His channel was created on 2 May 2020, however he didn't upload his first gaming video until 12 December that year.^[4] On 18 August 2022, he made a short video thanking his fans for helping him reach 1,000 subscribers, "So now folks, let me introduce myself: I am a Palestinian from Gaza, aged 12 years old. The goal of this channel is to reach 100,000 subscribers. And 500,000, then 1 million, and God willing to reach 10 million subscribers with your support and love".^[2][3][5][6] On 3 August 2023, he would publish his final video, in which he played Counter Strike.^[7]

Life and family

His father was a computer engineer, which gave Awni his love for computers. Awni would copy his father, pulling apart laptops and attempting to put them back together. In photos shared on the Facebook page of his school, Safad Primary School (A) for Boys, he is shown standing in front of a blackboard holding a motherboard, leading a lesson on computer technology as a part of the Little Teachers Initiative.^[2][8][9] A member of his family called him "engineer Awni" because of his love for computers.^[2][3]

Ashraf El-Dous, a distant relative of Awni who works as a programmer and helps to run several YouTube channels, stated that Awni would frequently come to him for advise on his channel, with Awni referring to him as "brother Ashraf". He told the BBC "His ambition was to be my competitor or colleague - He created a YouTube channel. It wasn't that big, it didn't have any big views. Every start-up is hard at the beginning." His aunt, Ala'a, said that he idolised YouTubers who made his hobby their career, saying "He wanted to be like them - to have followers and fans"^[2]

Death

On 7 October 2023, at around 8:20pm that night, the top of the building was hit by two Israeli bombs, destroying it. The three-storey building in Zeitoun, Gaza housed three generations of their family, with each branch housed on different floors.^[2][10] Awni lived on a floor with his mother, father, two older sisters and two younger brothers, all of whom were killed in the bombing.^[2][10] 15 people were killed in total, 7 of them being children.^[2][10] His uncle, Mohammad El-Dous, who was in the building at the time and lost his son in the attack, told Amnesty International "Two bombs fell suddenly on top of the building and destroyed it. My wife and I were lucky to survive because we were staying on the top floor. She was nine-months pregnant and gave birth at al-Shifa hospital a day after the attack. Our entire family has been destroyed."^[10]

Shortly after his death, one of his teachers shared a photo of himself with Awni, saying that he had an "ever-lasting smile". Ala'a said of him that he was "very happy and confident", and that on one "very wonderful night" she remembered watching a film with Awni and his siblings, sharing crisps and chocolates. She recalled the last time she saw him, at a family breakfast three weeks before his death, where she looked at his nephew and said "Awni is becoming a man."^[2]

One of Awni's YouTube idols, AboFlah, a famous Kuwaiti YouTuber, released a video on 23 October 2023 about Awni after seeing a video shared on Instagram.^[11] The video, from Basr3, showed Awni's video announcing the aims of his channel, with the caption "I checked his account, and I found out he was following me. Then, I checked the direct messages and I saw that he had texted me, but I didn't see the messages. The amount of fury I felt is indescribable."^[11] One of the messages read "I swear, I love you and I love your videos. Keep going, legend!" AboFlah then choked up, turned to the camera and said "I hope he didn't text me. I hope he didn't know me. Please, tell me you didn't contact me." Upon seeing that Awni had messaged him, he suddenly got up from his chair, burst into tears and walked out of the room. One of the messages read "Nothing compares to Palestine's winter in Gaza; the atmosphere is legendary. We're drinking sahlab. It's so good. We're also eating roasted chestnuts. I hope you come to Palestine. Much love." Another read "You're my role model and everything I wish for. I hope you never stop posting." AboFlah said during the video "I don't want to talk like I'm 30 or 40 years old, but it's such a shame for this child to die… This child is one of many others who are even younger than him. If God wills it, they'll be birds of Paradise."^[2][11]

When interviewed by the BBC, he said "It was very touching to hear that he looked up to me as a role model." When asked why he believes that Awni has made such a large impact, he said "Fans see themselves in Awni. We are all Awni."^[2]

At the time of the video's release, Awni's channel had just over 50 thousand subscribers. AboFlah asked his subscribers to help Awni reach his goal of 100 thousand subscribers.^[11] Awni's subscriber count ballooned following his death. On the week of 15–21 October, Awni's subscriber count skyrocketed, receiving almost 26,000 subscribers, receiving another almost 700,000 subscribers the next week.^[12]

The comments sections of several of his videos are now flooded with supportive messages and condolences, congratulating him on reaching various subscriber milestones. One such message reads "You did it brother, your channel has now almost reached 1.5 M subscribers. May Allah place you in the best Jannah Rest in peace[sic]".^[2][3][5]

Notes

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