Three Rejections and Sob Story Reports as Persecuted by Hamas – but Clicks 'Like' on Hamas Martyrs

Palestinian Wael Sallouha has been in Sweden for nine years and has repeatedly told the Migration Agency that he fears Hamas and risks danger if returned to Gaza. Despite multiple appeals, the Migration Court has determined that his story is lacking and not sufficiently credible. Nevertheless, ETC published a report where Sallouha described his fear and the vulnerability he claims a deportation would entail – and he remains in Sweden. Samnytt has interviewed both Sallouha and ETC’s journalist Karin Annebäck, reviewed court rulings and documents, and spoken with a close family member who wishes to remain anonymous. The question is not only whether the image of Wael Sallouha is as clear-cut as it has been presented – but also how such stories move through the Migration Agency’s instances and appeals, and how they can be amplified by media that do not verify the information themselves.

Wael Sallouha came to Sweden in 2017. According to his own account, he left Gaza out of fear for the terrorist group Hamas. Since then, his asylum case has been examined at several levels because he continues to appeal denials. The Migration Court has in 2019, 2020, and 2023 scrutinized his claims of threats from Hamas – and at each occasion, the court has found credibility issues with his story and concluded he has not demonstrated that he faces treatment requiring protection.

The 2019 Migration Court ruling states, among other things:

“The essence of Wael Sallouha’s story is that he fled Gaza after being subjected to forced recruitment by Hamas. The Migration Court has unsuccessfully tried to find current country information about the existence of forced recruitment by Hamas. According to the submitted country information, which is old, Hamas does not exert strong pressure on the population to get them to join. Rather, they have the opposite problem, with too many volunteers. As there is no support in more recent country reports that Hamas engages in forced recruitment or that their methods have changed, the Migration Court considers that country information, to some extent, speaks against the credibility of Wael Sallouha’s claims.”

We can also read:

“The credibility issues in Wael Sallouha’s story are not outweighed by the written evidence submitted. Rather, the impression is reinforced that the total evidence is insufficient.”

So three instances have concluded that he has not shown it likely that he risks protection-eligible treatment by Hamas.

“Constant Anxiety”

At the same time, Wael Sallouha was featured in a home interview for the left-wing publication ETC in 2024, where he describes how he was forced to leave everything behind — family, work, and future — specifically because of Hamas. There we read, among other things:

“He is running out of strength. He has fought to stay in Sweden for seven years, after being forced to leave Gaza in 2017 due to fear of Hamas. At one point, they held him imprisoned. Even without the current war, Wael says it would be directly dangerous for him to return to Gaza.”

ETC journalist Karin Annebäck lets Wael describe his situation as one of “constant anxiety,” despite now having a permanent job in elderly care and Sweden not even deporting people to war zones.

“I just want some peace, to feel like an ordinary person. I have been completely stressed for seven years, it’s like I’m never able to move forward. And before that, I was stuck in Gaza, which was under blockade. Now it’s the same situation, I still have no rights, I’m still in a kind of blockade,” he tells Annebäck.

But now, the review of social media conducted by Samnytt, screenshots, and even conversations with a family member within the Sallouha family — who wishes to remain anonymous — show that the picture is more complex than previously presented. The material we have seen suggests that Wael Sallouha’s expressed sympathies, in certain contexts, are closer to Hamas than has so far emerged.

Hamas: “Our Hero and Martyr”

One example concerns the 22-year-old Islamist terrorist Ahmad Nassar Jarrar, who was behind the murder of an Israeli rabbi and was later killed by Israeli forces during an operation in Jenin, after being wanted for a period. After his death, Hamas publicly mourned him, described him as a “hero” and “martyr,” and called for continued armed resistance against Israel.

“Our hero and martyr has fulfilled his duty in resisting and defending the land of Palestine,” Hamas stated in a release noted by the media.

A similar tribute to Ahmad Nassar Jarrar was engaged with by Wael Sallouha on Facebook. On a post honoring Jarrar, Wael clicked the like button and commented: “May God have mercy on him.”

The post about Ahmad Nassar Jarrar on Facebook which Wael Sallouha liked and commented on with “May God have mercy on him.”

Another example is when a relative of Wael wrote the following on Facebook, to which Wael both liked and commented with the words “May God grant him joy” [translated from Arabic, editor’s note]:

“Shame on anyone who speaks a single word against the resistance. A curse on all the hypocrites who talk but do not act. Anyone who cannot sacrifice themselves can leave and emigrate — Palestine is not just Gaza. But those who sit and defend Arab honor — what honor do they have even? The shame lies with the Zionist occupation. We all know we have lost martyrs, families, homes, and factories, and Egyptians too – but that’s not worse than losing Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque!!!!! And then some dog comes and tells me: ‘What have your rockets accomplished???’

They did what they couldn’t do, my dear sir. They stood up to ‘the world’s strongest army’ with the most modern weapons, planes, tanks, and missiles. And if we throw a stone and it reaches them – while the other side has an armed Jewish dog loaded with all kinds of weapons that count for nothing in international norms – it’s still a victory for you and your people. That one who cries and complains about the resistance — I don’t know what he has given to his country???? But God created you here so you could live on the land of Ribat (the holy borderland), eat, play, go out to the beach, rent houses and land – God willing – and your life would not be lost for a single good deed. What is taken by force can only be reclaimed by force, by strength, blood, and weapons. God has decreed that we shall live like this until Judgment Day if we do not reclaim all of Palestine.”

A post Waed Sallouha liked and commented on with “May God grant him joy.”

Samnytt called Wael: “IDF are fucking bitches”

Samnytt has contacted Palestinian Wael Sallouha, who is still in Sweden, to hear more about his process with the Migration Agency, the article in ETC, and how it is that he has engaged with social media posts related to Hamas.

To the Migration Agency and in ETC’s report, you describe that you fear Hamas and have had problems with them before. Can you elaborate on what that fear is concretely based on?

– Well, I actually don’t know. I want to keep it a bit secret. I don’t even want to talk about this, because it has been very sensitive for me. He continues:

– I have submitted all the evidence and all the explanations necessary to the Migration Agency. Since then, I have not thought I want to talk about this anymore. It doesn’t feel good for me, actually. It creates a lot of anxiety.

Maybe somehow, because you get really pissed off and maybe can’t control yourself, you think that anyone could do something just to stop it. It could be Hamas, it could be the EU, it could be America, anyone…

Wael Sallouha to Samnytt

It doesn’t feel good, you say…

– What has happened, the genocide that has happened over the last two years, it’s actually indescribable.

You use the term genocide?

– Yes, it is genocide, what has happened. It’s not normal, it’s not war. Over 70,000 civilians have been killed, they lie under the rubble. 100,000 have starved to death. It’s nothing but genocide.

Just to clarify, you mean Israel is committing genocide?

– Yes. Of course.

We have seen information and screenshots that claim to show you expressing sympathies for Hamas or sharing content supportive of their actions on social media. Do you recognize this information?

– Never. What I have done all my life is defend people living in Gaza. I defend my family and the civilians in Gaza. But the attacks on people, I wanted someone to somehow stop them. I just want it to stop. Sallouha continues:

– I have left my family and my country and everything, only because of Hamas. I just want to protect myself and I moved away from there. But when you see your family dying and starving, thousands of rockets coming and they are looking for something to eat. Maybe then the feeling has become indescribable and you get angry and just want them to somehow have food and so on…

If he is afraid of Hamas, how come he goes down to Egypt to meet his family, who still supports Hamas? And he did that last year.

Relative of Wael Sallouha

Do you distance yourself from Hamas and violence against civilians?

– If you have marked what I have said from the beginning, I feel very bad for the civilians who are affected and die everywhere, and I have left my family, my parents and my girl – I have left my business and everything, for nine or ten years, and I’m still here in Sweden. He continues:

– I have three jobs, my own car and support myself, but don’t even have a residence permit. I’m tortured and dying all the time every day, just because of them. I was forced to leave my country because of Hamas, and you ask me such questions…

We repeat the question, do you distance yourself from Hamas?

– Didn’t you get the answer, when I’ve talked about this for so long?

Sallouha then returns to his desire to see what he calls Israel’s genocide end:

– Bloodbaths and massacres happen every day in my country. Maybe somehow, because you get really angry and maybe cannot control yourself, you think that anyone could do anything just to stop it. It could be Hamas, it could be the EU, it could be America, anyone… who could stop this genocide. He continues:

– Maybe I’ve been really angry and wanted them to do something. Maybe they could do something to make it end.

At the same time, Wael Sallouha tells Samnytt that he absolutely distances himself from Hamas.

– To me, Hamas, they are the worst people in the world. Get it?

But he quickly adds:

– But what the IDF [Israel Defence Forces, editor’s note] has done is fucking a hundred times worse than the worst people in the world. Fucking bitches.

A Family that Supports Hamas?

Samnytt gets in touch with a close relative of Wael Sallouha, who also lives in Sweden and wants to be anonymous for safety reasons.

What is your knowledge of Wael Sallouha and his cases with the Migration Agency?

– Wael claims to the Migration Agency that he fled from Palestine, Gaza, out of fear of Hamas. And claims he was detained by Hamas in 2017 and then left the country and came to Sweden to seek asylum. Our source continues:

– His family supports Hamas incredibly openly. You can also see it, for example, in posts on Facebook, how they praise Hamas when they have killed 500 Jews and so on.

Have you read ETC’s report on Wael Sallouha?

– I read it. There he also explained that his family is in Gaza. It was an emotional article, a sob story, if I may say so. It is very skewed. They haven’t checked properly. The source continues:

– The family left Palestine two months after the war ended. They are now living in Egypt and have a very comfortable life there. They have a home, jobs, and so on. The source continues:

– If he is now afraid of Hamas, how is it that he goes down to Egypt to meet his family, who still supports Hamas? And he did that last year. The source concludes:

– I am Muslim, but I am not the kind of Muslim who supports terrorist organizations or that Jews should be killed. I am a human being and we are all human beings. I am still raised here in Swedish culture and norms. So I follow them very strictly, if I may say so.

“I think it was the guy I met at his place”

Samnytt contacts ETC’s journalist Karin Annebäck, who was at Wael Sallouha’s home in 2024 and wrote the report on him, in which he expresses concern about being handed over to Hamas if deported from Sweden.

What concrete evidence did you have that Wael Sallouha was threatened by Hamas?

– I don’t remember exactly which article it is, so I might have to read it again in that case…, but I relied on his story. But I don’t really remember.

We have found posts where Wael expresses sympathies and likes content legitimizing Hamas’ violence – how does that affect the credibility of presenting him as persecuted by that very organization?

– I can’t comment on what I don’t remember, and I also don’t know what you have found.

It’s really not that hard to look at his Facebook?

– No, that’s possible. But it’s really hard to talk about this since I don’t remember his story or hardly the person. Then it becomes hard to answer questions well.

But you’ve been to his home and taken your own photos, so you must remember him?

– I think I know who you’re talking about, but I write quite a lot of articles. But I think it was the guy I met at his place.

It’s not that you knew about his sympathies and still published the article?

– No, no. But what’s the purpose of you calling and asking me these questions?

We are going to publish an article presenting the information we have about Wael Sallouha and his stories as he has provided them to both the Migration Agency and you at ETC.

– I don’t even know what has happened to him now. Is he still in Sweden?

We reply that Wael is still in Sweden and that the Migration Agency, after several reviews, has not found his story credible enough. Annebäck then asks how certain it really is that he supports Hamas.

We explain the material we have found and reviewed — including how his brother posted pictures of Hamas founder, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, how a cousin shared images of the Hamas symbol — as well as how Wael himself appears in comments and posts in a close and loving relationship with both his brother and cousin. The family he says he fears in Annebäck’s report.

Hamas founder, Sheikh Ahmad Yassin, and Hamas’s former top leader Ismail Haniyeh, images from Facebook posts by Wael Sallouha’s close relatives

We ask Annebäck again if she checked Wael’s Facebook before writing the article:

– I don’t remember if I did.

Later, ETC journalist Karin Annebäck follows up with a message to Samnytt where she writes:

“Hi again, just read the article now and what it is mainly about is that he was informed he would be sent to Gaza even though there was an ongoing war. He says he left Gaza in 2017 out of fear of Hamas. But the article is not about that, it’s about the absurdity of receiving a deportation order there while there is an ongoing war.”

The Migration Court has, on repeated occasions, found that Wael Sallouha has not shown it likely that he risks protection-eligible treatment by Hamas. At the same time, a review of his public interactions on social media shows that he has, on several occasions, expressed supportive reactions to posts that glorify Hamas and individuals described as martyrs by the terror organization.

Despite this, his story about being threatened by the same organization has been presented in the media without those circumstances being highlighted. When the courts’ credibility assessments and public digital traces are not taken into account in reporting, a disconnect arises between the legal review and the media narrative. This raises questions about what responsibility editorial teams have in passing on stories that have already been questioned in court.

Wael Sallouha is still in Sweden.

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