In a clear targeted assassination, Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) killed wounded Palestinian journalist Hassan Islayeh in a drone attack early Tuesday, May 13, while he was receiving treatment at the burns unit in Nasser hospital in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis.
Initial reports confirmed that another individual was killed in the assault, while a number of medical staff and patients were wounded.
Islayeh was a prominent field reporter and director of the Gaza-based Alam24 news agency. He was severely injured in a previous Israeli airstrike that targeted a media tent outside the same hospital last month, killing three journalists and injuring a number of others.
Following last month’s airstrike, the IOF announced that they deliberately targeted Islayeh, who survived and was admitted to Nasser hospital to receive treatment for his injuries. The IOF then claimed that Islayeh was a member of the Khan Younis Brigade, affiliated with the Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.
According to the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, Islayeh was a frequent target of incitement campaigns by Israeli media outlets because of his journalistic work, in which he documented violations of human rights committed by Israel in the Gaza strip.
Israel accuses Palestinian journalists of being combatants to assassinate them
Israel has repeatedly accused Palestinian journalists of affiliation with resistance groups, using that as a pretext to target them, in an attempt to silence the truth.
In October 2024, the IOF published the names and photos of six Palestinian journalists working for Al Jazeera news network in Gaza, accusing them of being fighters in Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad movement. The journalists include:
- Anas al-Sharif
- Alaa Salama
- Hossam Shabat
- Ashraf Saraj
- Ismail Abu Omar
- Talal Aruki
The network denounced the accusations, calling them as “unfounded allegations”. However, fears for the safety of the six journalists have been growing ever since.
In November, 2024, Talal Aruki, was wounded in an airstrike launched by the IOF on the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Three months later, Ismail Abu Omar was wounded in an Israeli aerial attack on Rafah in southern Gaza. In March, 2025, Israel killed Hossam Shabat in an airstrike that hit his car in Salah al-Din Street in the northern Gaza strip.
Death toll of Palestinian journalists in Gaza rises to 215
Gaza’s Government Media Office announced in a statement on Tuesday that the assassination of Hassan Islayeh brings the death toll of Palestinian journalists killed by Israel since the start of its genocidal aggression on Gaza in October 2023 to 215.
