US Contractors Linked to Surveillance of Gaza Journalist Mohamed Salama Before His Killing

August 27, 2025 – Palestine/United States –

Investigative reporting by Middle East Eye reveals that U.S. security contractors operating an aid distribution center in Gaza interrogated a source of Middle East Eye journalist Mohamed Salama, seeking information about his identity and whereabouts, just days before Salama was killed in an Israeli airstrike.

Salama, who reported for both MEE and Al Jazeera, had relied on anonymity for his own safety while investigating sensitive issues. A person he interviewed, who subsequently became a source, revealed they were briefly detained and questioned by American contractors about Salama’s identity. The source later told colleagues that Salama expressed growing alarm, stating, “We journalists are never safe in Gaza.”

Salama was killed in a “double-tap” Israeli strike on Gaza’s Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, which claimed the lives of Salama and four other journalists. Questions have now emerged about whether intelligence gathered by these contractors may have contributed to identifying and targeting him. U.S.-based firms Safe Reach Solutions and UG Solutions were named in MEE’s inquiry, but neither had responded to requests for comment by the time of publication. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, which oversees operations at the aid center, dismissed the interrogation claims as “absurd and completely false.”

This development raises urgent concerns about the misuse of humanitarian infrastructure for surveillance and intelligence collection—and its deadly consequences for frontline journalists in conflict zones.

References –

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/mee-editor-chief-writes-british-pm-over-killing-mee-journalists

https://iranpress.com/content/309374/us-contractors-gaza-pursue%C2%A0mee-journalist-before-his-killing