Translated Content:
Corrected - Hossam El-Masry, Reuters cameraman killed by Israeli fire in Gaza
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This content was published on August 27, 2025 - 2:33 PM
8 minutes
(Re-edited to correct time Mohammed Salem left the Strip in the fifth paragraph)
(Reuters) – Hossam El-Masry, the Reuters photojournalist killed by Israeli fire on Monday while supervising a live video broadcast from Nasser Hospital in the Gaza Strip, documented the suffering of civilians in the war while he himself lived in a tent and struggled to provide food for his family.
El-Masry, 49, was a veteran cameraman whose positive attitude, even in the most dangerous situations, his colleagues say, earned him widespread popularity among the tight-knit community of journalists in Gaza.
He kept saying, "Tomorrow will be better," even as conditions in the Palestinian enclave deteriorated and hunger and despair deepened in the months before his death.
Thus ended his last conversation with Mohammed Salem, a Reuters photographer who has known al-Masri since 2003 and worked alongside him in Rafah, southern Gaza, last year.
Salem, who left Gaza earlier this year but remained in daily contact with al-Masri until Monday morning, said his optimism and smile "made the hardships of the job easier for us."
"Hussam was deeply dedicated to telling the story of Gaza to the world," said Reuters Editor-in-Chief Alessandra Galloni.
"He was strong, steadfast, and courageous in the most difficult circumstances. His loss has left a deep sense of sorrow for everyone who worked with him in the newsroom."
A video released by Reuters showed al-Masri's body next to his camera on an external staircase at the hospital where he was broadcasting the scene in Khan Younis when the Israeli airstrike occurred.
Minutes later, a second explosion occurred on the staircase, killing at least 19 people, including rescuers and four journalists who worked for outlets including the Associated Press, Al Jazeera, and others.
Moaz Abu Taha was one of the four other freelance journalists killed in the attack, working for Reuters and other media outlets.
Hatem Khaled, a Reuters cameraman, was wounded in the second attack as he was on the stairs filming the aftermath of the first explosion.
The Israeli military told Reuters on Tuesday that the Reuters and Associated Press journalists were not “targets of the bombing.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed Israel’s deep regret over what he described as a “tragic incident” at the hospital.
The Committee to Protect Journalists said after the strike that it had documented the deaths of 189 Palestinian journalists by Israeli fire during the war in Gaza. It called on the international community to hold Israel accountable. “The perpetrators must no longer be allowed to get away with it,” it said on Monday.
Before his death, al-Masri had tried to get his wife, Samaher, 39, out of Gaza for treatment for cancer. They have four children: Shahd, 23, Mohammed, 22, Shatha, 18, and Ahmed, 15.
Al-Masri was born and raised in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. He earned a diploma in journalism before starting to work as a freelance journalist in 1998 for organizations including the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation. His wife said his passion for journalism stemmed from his desire to convey what was happening in the Gaza Strip to the world.
His brother, Ezz El-Din El-Masry, said, "This was Hussam's role in the media... to convey the truth to all media outlets."
He continued, "Hussam carried a camera... almost daily, never stopping. He even spent his vacations filming."
He added, "The camera records both our good and our bad. The camera records whether there are Palestinian militants or the Israeli occupation... He has no involvement in the events... Hussam is just a documenter of the events."
The family fled their home when the Israeli army ordered all civilians to leave Khan Yunis, expanding its military operations there shortly after the war began following an attack by the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) in October 2023.
The family later learned that their home had been destroyed.
In a video he filmed himself and posted last year to a WhatsApp group with other journalists, Al-Masry described his grief for his home and the neighborhood he once lived in. “There are only ruins left, only a pile of sand left… We remember that there was life here,” he said.
The family returned to Khan Yunis in July of last year, where they live in a tent.
* Live Broadcast
Al-Masry began working for Reuters as a contractor in Rafah, near the border with Egypt, in May 2024, eight months after the war began. His work included live broadcasts from displacement camps and the entry of humanitarian aid through the Rafah crossing.
Since returning to Khan Yunis, he has taken over Reuters’ daily broadcast from Nasser Hospital, providing real-time, continuous coverage of the situation in the Strip, used by Reuters media clients around the world.
“Hossam undertook this arduous task every day for months, primarily from Nasser Hospital, but also from Rafah when the coverage required it,” said Labib Nasser, Reuters’ head of photography for the Middle East and North Africa.
Al-Masry also covered events from other areas in the southern Gaza Strip, often relying on his contacts while at the hospital, conveying vivid accounts of the unfolding humanitarian tragedy, including stories of malnutrition in the territory, parts of which are officially in famine.
The last story he reported and covered with photos was on Saturday, showing families mourning the bodies of their loved ones killed in Israeli strikes, including children. The war has claimed the lives of at least 62,000 Palestinians, according to health authorities in the Strip.
Salem, who spoke with al-Masry every morning as he set up the camera to begin filming, said al-Masry chose to take over the live broadcast from Nasser Hospital partly because he believed it was the safest place from which he could work.
During their last conversation, al-Masry described the difficulty of life in Gaza and the struggle to obtain food.
Hours later, a Reuters photo showed his body lying on a stretcher.
(Prepared by Salma Najm for the Arabic Bulletin; Edited by Suha Jadou)