
Press Freedom Groups Urge EU to Suspend Israel Trade Deal Over Journalist Killings in Gaza
September 30, 2025
Israeli Airstrike Kills TRT Freelance Photojournalist Yahya Barzaq in Gaza
October 1, 2025September 30, 2025 – Palestine –
The deadly strike on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on August 25, which killed at least 20 people, including five journalists, has underscored the near-impossible conditions faced by reporters in Gaza. The journalists who died were not combatants but professionals working to document the war, and their deaths highlight the daily risks endured by those still trying to keep the world informed.
Among the victims were Reuters contractor Hussam al-Masri, whose live feed went dark at the moment of impact, and Al Jazeera cameraman Mohammed Salama. Freelancers Mariam Abu Dagga, Moaz Abu Taha, and Ahmed Abu Aziz were also killed. All were on assignment when the hospital came under fire. Eyewitnesses described a “double tap” strike, with a second blast hitting just minutes after the first, catching journalists and medics who had rushed to the scene.
For Gaza’s press corps, this tragedy is part of a broader pattern. Since October 2023, hundreds of Palestinian journalists have been killed or injured while reporting. Many operate with little or no protective gear, often displaced from their homes, and forced to choose between sheltering their families or carrying their cameras to the frontlines.
Despite the dangers, journalists continue to work in makeshift newsrooms, crowded hospital corridors, and bomb-scarred streets. With foreign media largely barred from entering Gaza, their reporting has become the only lifeline connecting the outside world to the realities of life under bombardment. Families of the slain journalists say they sacrificed their lives for truth, not politics. “We carry no weapons,” said the father of one victim. “Our only weapon is the camera.”
Israel’s military acknowledged responsibility for the hospital strike but denied deliberately targeting the press. Media watchdogs and press unions, however, say the pattern of killings, coupled with attacks on known press locations, suggests otherwise.
For the remaining reporters, the message is chilling yet galvanizing. Every broadcast, photo, and dispatch is a defiance of silence. In Gaza, to keep reporting is itself an act of resistance, carried out at immense personal cost.
Reference –
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/world/gaza-journalists-nasser-hospital-israel-hamas-war-5377361