Ramallah – 25 August 2025 The Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA) strongly condemns, in the harshest terms, the heinous crime committed by Israeli occupation forces on the morning of Monday, 25 August 2025, in the vicinity of Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip. This attack resulted in the killing of four journalists while they were fulfilling their professional and national duty of documenting and reporting on the occupation’s crimes. It marks the second such incident this month, bringing the total number of journalists killed in similar attacks in August to six.

According to field reports, at approximately 10:10AM, an Israeli aircraft targeted the “Al-Yassin" building within Nasser Medical Complex, instantly killing HOSSAM AL-MASRI (48 years old), a photojournalist working with Reuters and Palestine TV. Shortly afterward, a group of journalists arrived at the scene to report and document the incident. Ten minutes later, an Israeli drone launched a second strike on the same location, resulting in the deaths of MARYAM ABU DAQQA (34), a photojournalist for the British newspaper The Independent; MOHAMMED SALAMA (28), a cameraman for Al Jazeera; and MOATH ABU TAHA (30), a cameraman for NBC News. In addition, HATEM ABU OMAR, a photojournalist for China’s Xinhua News Agency, sustained head injuries, and JAMAL BADDAH, a cameraman for Palestine Today TV, was also injured.

MADA unequivocally condemns this latest crime, which is part of a systematic pattern of targeting Palestinian journalists since 7 October 2023. To date, 185 journalists have been killed in these attacks, a deliberate attempt to silence the truth and prevent the world from witnessing the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in the Gaza Strip.

MADA affirms that targeting journalists while performing their professional duties constitutes a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and all international conventions that guarantee their protection during armed conflicts. This attack underscores the occupation's ongoing efforts to suppress truth by targeting both the word and the image.

MADA renews its urgent call on the international community, United Nations institutions, and all international organizations concerned with press freedom and human rights to take immediate action to end Israel’s crimes against Palestinian journalists. It further calls for accountability and prosecution of those responsible before international courts, as such acts constitute war crimes and crimes against humanity under international law.

Glory and eternal honor to the martyrs of Palestinian journalism.