The Palestinian presenter delivered the network’s first-ever bulletin when it went on air in 1996.

Al Jazeera Arabic presenter Jamal Rayyan, the first face ever seen on the channel when it launched nearly three decades ago, has died at the age of 73.

Rayyan passed away on Sunday after a broadcasting career spanning more than five decades, during which he covered major global and regional events for the channel – from the United States wars in Afghanistan and Iraq to the Arab Spring.

He had been with Al Jazeera since its first day on air on November 1, 1996, when he presented the channel’s opening bulletin at the start of what would become a major broadcaster in the Arab world.

Born in Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank in 1953, the Palestinian presenter began his career at Jordanian Radio and Television in 1974 before working with several broadcasters in the region and beyond, including Emirati television, South Korean public broadcasting, and BBC Arabic.

Rayyan later recalled being sworn to secrecy after being quietly selected for the historic role.

“The vice chairman of the board came and said to me, ‘You have been chosen to be the first face on Al Jazeera, but we want one thing from you: do not tell anyone,’” he told Al Jazeera’s In-Depth Studies, a collection of testimonies from the channel’s founders and early staff.

Measured delivery, distinctive voice

The announcement that Rayyan was presenting the first bulletin was made public half an hour before airtime. He entered the studio deliberately on an empty stomach, he recalled, to ensure he could breathe well and deliver.

“As the broadcast started, my heart began beating rapidly. However, after I appeared on the screen and said, ‘Welcome to the first broadcast of Al Jazeera channel,’ I returned to my natural state and finished the broadcast. As soon as I finished and exited the studio, the entire room erupted in applause,” Rayyan said.

He spent nearly three decades as one of Al Jazeera’s most recognisable presenters, building a following of 2.3 million on X.

Over the years, Rayyan became a familiar presence in homes across the Arab world, his measured delivery and distinctive voice closely associated with Al Jazeera’s news bulletins.

In the Arab world and beyond, his broadcasts and the channel’s editorial approach reached wide audiences and helped shape regional news coverage in the years that followed.