HUSSAM al-Masri, the Reuters journalist killed by Israeli fire on Monday while operating a live video feed at Gaza’s Nasser Hospital, reported on the war’s civilian suffering while living in a tent and struggling to find food for his family.
Masri, 49, was an experienced cameraman whose positive approach in the most dangerous situations made him popular among Gaza’s tight-knit community of reporters, journalist colleagues said.
“Tomorrow will be better,” he would say, even as conditions in the Palestinian enclave descended further into hunger and desperation in the months leading up to his death.
That was how he ended his last conversation with Mohamed Salem, a senior visual journalist for Reuters who had known Masri since 2003 and worked alongside him in Rafah, in the south of Gaza, last year.
Salem, who left Gaza earlier this year but was in daily contact with Masri until Monday morning, said his optimism and smiles made him a pleasure to work with.
Reuters editor in chief Alessandra Galloni said, “Hussam was deeply devoted to telling the story of Gaza to the world.”
“He was strong, steady and courageous in the most challenging of circumstances. His loss is deeply felt by all of those in this newsroom who worked with him.”
Masri’s body was recovered alongside his camera in an external stairwell at the hospital, from where he had been broadcasting the view across Khan Younis when the Israeli strike hit, Reuters video shows. A second blast on the stairwell minutes later killed at least 19 people, including rescue workers and four journalists who had worked for outlets including the Associated Press, Al Jazeera and others. One of the four, Moaz Abu Taha, provided visuals to Reuters and others.
Reuters photographer Hatem Khaled was injured in the second attack while on the stairs filming the aftermath of the first blast.
Israel’s military told Reuters on Tuesday that the journalists for Reuters and the Associated Press were not “a target of the strike.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel deeply regretted what he called the “tragic mishap” at the hospital.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, which said after the strikes it had documented a total of 189 Palestinian journalists killed by Israel during the war in Gaza, has called for the international community to hold Israel accountable and on Monday said “the perpetrators must no longer be allowed to act with impunity.”
Masri’s wife, Samaher, 39, has cancer and he had been trying to get her out of Gaza for treatment before he was killed. The couple had four children: Shahd, 23, Mohammed, 22, Shatha, 18 and Ahmad, 15.
Masri was born and raised in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. He earned a diploma in journalism before starting work as a freelancer in 1998, including for the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation. His passion for journalism stemmed from a desire to show the world what was happening in Gaza, his wife said.
“This was Hussam’s role in the media: to deliver the truth to the outlets,” said his brother, Ezzeldin al-Masri. “Hussam never stopped filming,” even during some of his vacations, he said.
“The camera is recording, whether for or against us. The camera recorded whether there were Palestinian gunmen or Israeli occupation forces.”
The family fled their home when Israel’s military ordered all civilians to leave Khan Younis as it expanded its offensive there shortly after the war started in response to the Hamas attacks of October 2023.
The family later learned their home had been destroyed.
In a video he recorded of himself and posted to a WhatsApp group shared with other journalists last year, Masri described his grief at the loss of his home and neighborhood.
“Nothing remains but ruins – ruins we weep over,” he said. The family returned to Khan Younis in July of last year, taking shelter in a tent.
