Moataz Mohammed Rajab

Moataz Mohammed Rajab was a dedicated Palestinian media professional working as a photojournalist and video editor for Al-Quds Al-Youm TV. Passionate about documenting the reality on the ground, he was part of a generation of journalists determined to report from the heart of Gaza, often under extremely dangerous conditions.

On the night of his death, Moataz was covering Israeli attacks in Gaza City near Al-Nafaq Street, an area frequently struck during Israeli military campaigns. An Israeli airstrike hit a civilian vehicle, killing him and several others on the spot. According to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, Rajab was working when the attack occurred, and his killing was not a result of collateral damage but part of what Gaza’s Government Media Office called a "systematic targeting and assassination" of Palestinian journalists.

His death drew sharp condemnation from press freedom organizations and prompted urgent calls for international accountability. The Government Media Office in Gaza accused Israel of deliberately assassinating journalists and appealed to global journalism bodies — including the International Federation of Journalists and the Arab Journalists Union — to take real action beyond issuing statements.

Rajab's killing adds to the devastating toll on Palestinian journalists since the war began on October 7, 2023. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least 181 media workers — including 173 Palestinians — have been killed, with several of them reportedly targeted deliberately, which CPJ classifies as murder. CPJ’s latest report highlights how Israel’s blockade and the resulting hunger crisis have severely crippled the ability of the media to operate in Gaza, calling the media sector "dismantled" and "exhausted."

Moataz Mohammed Rajab is remembered not just as another casualty of the war, but as a journalist who died doing his duty: documenting truth in the face of destruction.