Gaza: Israel bombs media tent, killing journalist and burning others
TRIGGER WARNING: the video below contains highly distressing content
Israeli forces bombed a tent sheltering reporters in Khan Younis on Monday, setting it on fire and killing two while others were trapped in the flames.
The strike, which targeted the tent near Nasser Hospital, killed journalist Hilmi al-Faqawi and citizen Yousef al-Khazindar, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Several other journalists in the tent were wounded, including Ahmed Mansour, Hassan Islayeh, Ahmed al-Agha, Mohammed Fayeq, Abdullah al-Attar, Ihab al-Bardini, Mahmoud Awad, Majed Qudaih, and Ali Islayh, with some in critical condition.
The bombing directly struck Hassan Islayeh's phone, with shrapnel wounding him and several reporters.
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Abed Shaat, a journalist who survived the attack, told MEE that around 3am, an Israeli strike hit the tent where journalists were known to be staying, without any prior warning.
“These journalists were well-known, and this [displacement] camp was widely recognised as a place where journalists stayed, working to send messages, give a voice, and paint a picture of the situation. They report on people’s struggles and worries,” Shaat said.
He added that most of his colleagues were asleep at the time of the attack.
He described the scenes as “incredibly harsh, saddening, and painful” and said he rushed toward his colleague Mansour, one of those severely wounded in the attack, as he burned alive.
“To see your journalist colleague engulfed in flames, I don’t think you can witness anything more difficult than that,” he said.
In his attempt to rescue his fellow journalist, Shaat sustained slight burns to his hands. “God have mercy on him, he is now receiving treatment.”
He added that several reporters are receiving medical care for mild to serious wounds.
In widely circulated footage, Mansour, a correspondent for the local Palestine Today news agency, is seen engulfed in flames as colleagues desperately attempt to save him.
Mansour was left in critical condition with life-threatening injuries.
Updates about journalists conditions after Israeli attack:
— Motasem A Dalloul (@AbujomaaGaza) April 7, 2025
➡️Journalist Hilmi Faqaawi was KILLED
➡️Journalist Ahmad Mansour is suffering severe and critical burns and wounds
➡️Hassan Slayyeh is suffering from crushed fingers in his right hand and moderate head injuries. He… pic.twitter.com/0lNKNbiDpS
“The tent was known to everyone as one for journalists, this confirms that this was a targeted attack on journalists,” Shaat said.
“Our message is that we continue on our path, this path we chose as journalists, as we report on people’s struggles and create a voice for our people in Gaza, who are enduring a genocidal war for more than 15 months.”
News graveyard
Over the weekend, Palestinian journalist Islam Nasr al-Din Muqadad was killed alongside her son after an Israeli strike targeted her home in Khan Younis.
Since launching its war on Gaza in October 2023, Israel has killed 210 Palestinian journalists.
Israel's war on Gaza has been the "worst ever conflict" for journalists according to a report by the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs.
The report, titled News Graveyards: How Dangers to War Reporters Endanger the World, said the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip since October 2023 had "killed more journalists than the US Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War (including the conflicts in Cambodia and Laos), the wars in Yugoslavia in the 1990s and 2000s, and the post-9/11 war in Afghanistan, combined".
"In 2023, a journalist or media worker was, on average, killed or murdered every four days. In 2024, it was once every three days," said the report.
"Most reporters harmed or killed, as is the case in Gaza, are local journalists."
The Committe to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said in February that a record number of journalists were killed globally in 2024, with Israel responsible for nearly 70 percent of the deaths.
The CPJ accused Israel of attempting to stifle investigations of incidents, shift blame onto journalists and ignore its duty to hold people to account for the killings.
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