Jamal Rayyan, a Palestinian news anchorman with Al Jazeera, died on March 15, 2026, at the age of 72.
Born in Tulkarm, West Bank, on August 23, 1953, he worked as a news reporter and presenter for the Jordan Radio and Television Corporation in Amman from 1974 to 1989. He later worked for the BBC before joining Al Jazeera Television Network, where he was the first broadcaster to appear on the Al Jazeera Arabic channel when it launched and presented the channel’s first news bulletin in 1996.
Jamal Rayyan (Arabic: جمال ريان; 23 August 1953 – 15 March 2026) was a Palestinian television anchorman with the Al Jazeera Television Network. He was the first broadcaster to appear on Al Jazeera Arabic channel when it was launched, and the presenter of the first news bulletin on the channel in 1996. Before that, he had worked for the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).