Palestinian journalist, family members killed in Israeli airstrike on Gaza's Khan Yunis

A journalist working for the Palestinian Authority's television channel was killed on Thursday in an Israeli strike on Gaza, his network reported.

"Our colleague Mohammed Abu Hatab fell as a martyr along with members of his family in an Israeli bombardment against his home in Khan Yunis" in the south of the territory, broadcaster Palestine TV station said.

Medical sources at Nasser hospital in Khan Yunis said at least 11 people were killed in the strike.

مقتل مراسل تلفزيون "فلسطين" محمد أبو حطب مع عدد من أفراد عائلته إثر قصف اسرائيلي استهدف منزله في مدينة خانيونس جنوب قطاع غزة. pic.twitter.com/4ojd3P7O0V

— Samir Kassir Eyes (@SK_Eyes) November 2, 2023

Since Israel began bombarding the Gaza Strip on 7 October, hundreds of Palestinian journalists have had to flee south from Gaza City and work in fear for their lives in appalling conditions as Israeli air raids pound the territory.

The Palestinian journalists' union says that 27 of its members have been killed in the territory in Israeli airstrikes in less than a month. A Reuters photojournalist was also killed in Israeli shelling on southern Lebanon last month during cross-border clashes, in what Reporters Without Borders say was a targeted strike.

Media representatives in Gaza, including AFP, used to work from offices in Gaza City.

But intense Israeli bombardments, which destroyed many buildings, forced news organisations to send their teams to the south, even as Israeli strikes hit targets across the entire territory.

The war raged for a 27th day on Thursday. More than 9,000 people have been killed in Gaza so far, including more than 3,700 children.

Hamas' attack on southern Israel on 7 October killed around 1,400 people, Israeli officials have said. Hamas took more than 200 others hostage - some of whom the group says have died in Israeli strikes. Some have been released.