The deliberate targeting of Palestinian journalists and their families in Gaza constitutes a grave violation of international law, renewing urgent calls for global action to protect media workers and ensure accountability.
This statement was originally published on madacenter.org on 19 May 2025.
The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) mourns the killing of four journalists — including one female journalist — who lost their lives in Israeli airstrikes that deliberately targeted them in yet another massacre carried out in various areas of the Gaza Strip at dawn on Sunday.
Israeli warplanes struck the homes of the four journalists, resulting in their deaths along with members of their families. At approximately 3:45AM, an airstrike targeted the home of journalist KHALED ABU SAIF in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip, killing him along with his wife, journalist NOOR QANDEEL, working for the Thuraya Media Center, and their two children.
At 4:00AM, another Israeli airstrike hit the home of freelance photojournalist ABDEL AZIZ AL-HAJJAR in the Al-Saftawi area of northern Gaza, killing him instantly along with several family members.
The body of freelance cameraman ABDEL RAHMAN TAWFIQ AL-ABADLEH (33 years old) was recovered in the town of Al-Qarara, east of Khan Younis, two days after he had gone missing. He had been unaccounted for since Saturday evening, 17 May, and was found at 7:00AM today following an Israeli airstrike in the area. His body was transferred to Nasser Medical Hospital.
MADA strongly condemns the killing of these four journalists in Gaza this morning, which raises the number of journalists killed since the beginning of this year to 32, and the total number since the onset of the genocidal war on Gaza to 245. This makes the current war the deadliest for journalists in modern history.
The deliberate targeting of journalists and their families in their homes and in displacement camps constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and amounts to a war crime that necessitates an urgent international investigation and accountability for the perpetrators, without impunity.
MADA calls on the international community — including the United Nations and institutions concerned with press freedom — to take immediate action to protect Palestinian journalists and ensure that those responsible for these crimes are held accountable.
