More journalists are killed in Gaza in latest Israeli airstrike

An Israeli airstrike on a tent in the southern Gaza Strip on Sunday evening killed several journalists and a 27-year-old father who was working with NBC News’ crew. 

The strike killed Ahmed Mansour, an editor with the Palestine Today news agency, and his co-worker, Hilmi Al-Faqawi. 

Yousef Al-Khozindar, a father of two working with NBC News to procure supplies and fuel, was in the tent next door being used by the news agency. 

“We are deeply saddened to learn that Yousef al-Khazindar, who worked with NBC News crews to provide fuel, water and other support in Gaza, was killed earlier this week in Khan Younis,” said David Verdi, Executive Vice President of Global Newsgathering at NBC News. “Our hearts and prayers go out to his family.” 

Video of the bombing’s fiery aftermath was shared on social media and verified by NBC News.    

“He burned in front of the whole world,” Mansour’s stricken wife, Fidaa Ibrahim, told NBC News in Khan Younis on Tuesday. “Everyone saw him.” He and Ibrahim had three children together, the youngest just shy of his first birthday. 

The Israeli military said in a statement Monday that it had been targeting Hassan Aslih, a Gaza-based freelance photographer with hundreds of thousands of followers on social media. The military described him as a “terrorist” with Hamas’ Khan Younis Brigade operating “under the guise of a journalist.” Aslih was wounded in the strike, according to the government media office in the Hamas-run enclave.  

More than 50,500 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, terror attack on Israel, according to the health ministry there. Israel has said 1,200 were killed in the attack and around 250 taken hostage.  

The conflict has been especially dangerous for media workers. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 2024 was the “deadliest year for journalists” around the world, with Israel being “responsible for nearly 70 percent” of those killed. Sunday’s airstrike brought the number of journalists killed in Gaza since the start of the war to at least 175. 

On Monday, the New York-based committee, which is considered the world’s leading advocate for media workers, denounced the attack and called on the international community to “act to stop Israel killing Palestinian journalists.”  

“This is not the first time Israel has targeted a tent sheltering journalists in Gaza,” CPJ Middle East and North Africa Director Sara Qudah said in the statement. “The international community’s failure to act has allowed these attacks on the press to continue with impunity, undermining efforts to hold perpetrators accountable.”  

Journalists are protected under international humanitarian law “as long as they do not take a direct part in the hostilities,” according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. 

The Israel Defense Forces said that Aslih had “participated” in the Oct. 7, attacks, and that he had documented and uploaded footage of “looting, arson and murder to social media.”  

Israel has often asserted that journalists it has killed were either members of Hamas or supporters, frequently without providing clear evidence.  

The Israel Defense Forces said it had taken “numerous steps” to mitigate harm to civilians before launching the strike on Sunday, including the use of precise munitions, aerial surveillance and additional intelligence.  

Asked by NBC News on Tuesday whether it was aware that other journalists were at the tent camp when the strike was launched, the IDF shared its initial statement, which did not directly address the question.