Khan Yunis: In a targeted airstrike that has shocked human rights observers and media organizations alike, Palestinian journalist Hassan Islayh was assassinated by Israeli forces early Tuesday, May 13, 2025, while recovering in a hospital room at the Nasser Medical Complex.
Islayh, who was injured in an earlier Israeli bombing on April 7 that struck a tent for journalists at the same hospital, was being treated in the burns unit when an Israeli drone struck the facility again—this time killing him and injuring other patients.
Islayh had spent the past 18 months documenting the devastation in Gaza amid Israel’s ongoing war, often working on the frontlines and in areas heavily targeted by Israeli forces. He was known for reporting with a small camera and immense determination, chronicling the daily struggles of civilians under siege. His final report focused on an Israeli bombing in Khan Yunis, written just days before his death.
Footage shared on social media shows the chaotic aftermath of the strike inside the hospital. Videos captured the destruction of the burns unit and the debris of the Israeli drone responsible for the bombing. According to witnesses and colleagues, this was not merely collateral damage—it was a deliberate strike against a known journalist.
The Israeli military later confirmed the assassination, with spokesperson Avichay Adraee claiming Islayh was a member of Hamas’ Khan Yunis Brigade and had participated in the October 7, 2023, Operation Flood of Al-Aqsa. This claim is part of a broader Israeli strategy of linking Palestinian journalists to militant groups in an effort to justify targeting them. Human rights organizations and media watchdogs, however, argue that these allegations are often unsubstantiated and used to silence independent reporting from Gaza.
Islayh's death brings the total number of journalists killed since the beginning of Israel’s war on Gaza to 215, according to the Gaza Government Media Office. His assassination has sparked outrage among Palestinian communities, press freedom advocates, and international observers, who see it as part of a systematic campaign to erase Palestinian narratives and restrict the flow of independent information from Gaza.
In October 2023, the Israeli military published names and photos of several journalists it accused of having ties to Hamas or Islamic Jihad. Many of those listed were later wounded or killed in Israeli strikes. Islayh was among those targeted. Activists and rights groups have condemned the silence of major international outlets and governments, pointing to the selective outrage over press freedom violations depending on the perpetrators.
His assassination not only underscores the extreme dangers faced by journalists in Gaza but also raises renewed questions about the protection of medical facilities, the deliberate targeting of civilians, and the broader implications for international law and wartime accountability.
The story of Hassan Islayh now joins a growing list of journalists silenced in Gaza—not by stray bullets or incidental blasts, but by deliberate, targeted action.
