An Israeli airstrike killed four journalists in Beit Lahia, Gaza, prompting renewed calls for accountability and stronger protections for Palestinian media workers.
This statement was originally published on madacenter.org on 15 March 2025.
The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms “MADA” strongly condemns the horrific crime that led to the martyrdom of four journalists around 1:00 PM today, Saturday, in the Gaza Strip, while performing their professional duty by covering humanitarian operations for the “Al-Khair International” Foundation.
According to the testimony of an eyewitness, the four journalists were in the “Attatra” area in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza, including editor BILAL ABU MATAR, cameramen BILAL AKILA and MAHMOUD YAHYA AL-SARAJ, who worked with the media team of “Al-Khair International” Foundation, and freelance journalist MAHMOUD SALIM ESLAIM, who had been recruited by the team to cover the suffering of displaced people in one of the shelter centers in Beit Lahia. ESLAIM was using a small drone, which he owned and used solely for documentary journalistic work. Their vehicle was targeted by an Israeli missile launched from one of the aircrafts that had been monitoring and following them until they finished their work, causing the car to catch fire and immediately martyring those inside, including the journalists.
In addition to this crime, journalist ALAA ASAAD HASHEM died yesterday, Friday, from wounds sustained in an earlier Israeli airstrike on Gaza City.
The continued targeting of Palestinian journalists is a war crime and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, which guarantees the protection of journalists as civilians performing an essential role in conveying the truth. This crime is part of the systematic targeting of media professionals in the Gaza Strip, aiming to silence the voice of truth and conceal the extent of crimes and violations still being committed against innocent civilians.
We call on the international community, human rights organizations, and international journalist unions to take urgent action to hold the perpetrators of these crimes accountable and ensure the protection of Palestinian journalists, who are paying with their lives to convey the truth to the world. We also reiterate our call to end these brutal attacks on journalists and bring those responsible to justice before international courts.
