Gaza: At least 10 Palestinians were killed overnight in Israeli airstrikes on the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, according to officials at Nasser Hospital who received the victims’ bodies. It remains unclear whether these strikes were linked to a separate Israeli military operation to retrieve the remains of two hostages.
In a separate incident in Gaza City, five Palestinians, including three journalists, were killed when Israeli strikes hit the courtyard of al-Ahli Hospital in the north. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry reported that several others were also wounded in the attack. The Israeli military has said it is reviewing the reports and may open an investigation, reiterating its stance that it targets militant infrastructure and blames civilian casualties on Hamas for operating within densely populated areas.
The killings add to a grim toll of media workers lost since the conflict began. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), over 180 journalists and media staff—most of them in Gaza—have died since the start of Israel’s military campaign. Meanwhile, the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS) puts the number significantly higher at 225, including 30 women journalists.
The union strongly condemned what it called a “systematic and deliberate” campaign by Israel to silence media voices in the region. It named the three journalists killed in the recent strike as Ismail Bdaih, Suleiman Hajjaj, and Samir Al-Rifai.
The PJS also raised alarm over what it described as cases of “enforced disappearance” involving two journalists—Nidal Al-Wahidi and Haitham Abdul-Wahed—whose whereabouts remain unknown. The group argues that their disappearance constitutes a serious breach of international law.
Israel has come under increasing criticism for its treatment of journalists and tight restrictions on independent media access to Gaza. Major global news organizations have publicly criticized Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government for barring foreign media entry into the enclave, demanding transparency and press freedom.
The Israeli government maintains that these restrictions are in place for safety reasons, claiming it cannot guarantee the security of journalists inside Gaza. However, several international outlets have rejected that explanation, asserting they are willing to manage their own security arrangements.
Press freedom advocates, including Reporters Without Borders, have accused Israel of trying to control the narrative by limiting media access, warning that the blockade on independent reporting risks concealing the true humanitarian conditions on the ground.
