Journalist Burned Alive on Camera After Israeli Strike on Media Tent in Gaza
Helmi Al-Faqaawi becomes the latest journalist to be killed as Gaza remains the deadliest place for media workers in modern history.
Watan-Paramedics and the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate reported that a Palestinian journalist was martyred on Monday and nine others were injured, some critically, when an Israeli airstrike targeted a tent used by local media outlets in southern Gaza.
Video footage showed people trying to extinguish the flames that engulfed the tent in the courtyard of Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis during the early hours of Monday morning.
The footage has been verified by analyzing the location, layout, and surrounding tents and buildings. The date was also confirmed through media reports and supporting video clips. Al-Quds Al-Arabi refrained from publishing the footage due to its graphic nature.
Footage Confirms Tragedy as Journalists Mourn Fallen Colleague
Social media users praised the bravery of the journalist’s colleagues, who risked their lives in an attempt to save him. Other videos shared on social platforms showed the tent completely destroyed by fire, along with the furniture and equipment inside.
Images widely circulated online showed a journalist engulfed in flames, while another person desperately tried to rescue him. These powerful visuals prompted a wave of tributes to the courage of those who tried to help.
Paramedics in Gaza confirmed that another Palestinian was also killed in the strike.
Later in the day, dozens of journalists and relatives took part in the funeral of the martyred journalist, Helmi Al-Faqaawi. His colleagues carried his body on a stretcher, placing his blue press flak jacket on top of him in a symbolic farewell.
Journalist Abed Shaath, a colleague of the deceased, vowed to continue delivering the message and truth to the world, calling it a human duty. He explained that they woke up to the airstrike and found the nearby media tent on fire.
تم تحويل الصحفي حسن أصليح إلى مستشفى غزة الأوروبي لإجراء عملية جراحية بعد تعرضه لحروق بلغية جراء قصف الاحتلال الصهيوني خيمة الصحفيين في مستشفى ناصر الطبي pic.twitter.com/I8cgO9vWhi
— خبرني – khaberni (@khaberni) April 7, 2025
Gaza Becomes Deadliest Conflict for Journalists in Modern History
According to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, Al-Faqaawi’s death brings the number of journalists killed in the Israeli war on Gaza to over 210 since October 2023.
Just days earlier, a study by Brown University revealed that the war in Gaza has become the deadliest conflict for journalists. A report in Foreign Policy accused Israel of waging a “relentless war on reporters.”
The report stated that the war on Gaza has killed more journalists and media workers than the American Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Yugoslav Wars, the post-9/11 conflicts, and the war in Afghanistan—combined, not individually.
