Palestinian journalist, his entire family, killed in Israeli bombing of Khan Younis
A Palestinian journalist, Hassan Samour, has been killed in an Israeli airstrike in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip.
Samour and his entire family lost their lives when Israeli forces bombed their home in Khan Younis during a predawn strike on Thursday. His death raised the number of journalists killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 2023 to 216.
The airstrike that claimed Samour’s life was one of at least ten air raids carried out by the Israeli military in Khan Younis alone overnight into Thursday.
Numerous bodies were transported to Nasser Hospital, some arriving in pieces. The hospital reported that 54 people had been killed overnight in the city.
It marked the second consecutive night of intense Israeli bombing of Gaza. A day earlier, at least 80 people—including nearly two dozen children—were killed in airstrikes on both southern and northern Gaza.
Samour’s death came just two days after a prominent Palestinian photojournalist, Hassan Eslayeh, was killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting the emergency department of Nasser Hospital.
Eslayeh, who had been receiving treatment for injuries sustained in an earlier Israeli attack, was killed by a drone strike on the hospital’s surgical wing.
Witnesses described it as a deliberate attack on the journalist, who had gained international recognition for his extensive coverage of Israeli atrocities in Gaza. He had amassed more than half a million followers on Instagram, where he documented the war.
Eslayeh had been hospitalized for nearly a month after surviving an April airstrike that hit the same facility. That earlier attack had claimed the life of his colleague, journalist Helmi al-Faqawi, and wounded several other reporters.
Journalists and press workers have repeatedly been caught in the crossfire or directly targeted by Israeli forces in Gaza.
Human rights groups have consistently condemned attacks on journalists in the besieged territory, warning that they are part of a broader campaign by the Israeli regime to suppress press freedom and obstruct reporting on the unfolding humanitarian crisis there.
