The attack came five days after an Israeli media report questioned whether Qudih, a freelance photographer, had any prior knowledge of the October 7 Hamas attack
Palestinians look on as they search for victims at the site of Israeli attacks on houses in Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip
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(Portal) Days after an Israeli media monitoring group questioned his coverage of Hamas on October 7, deadly attacks occurred on a photojournalist’s home in Gaza, prompting death threats against him on social media.
Yasser Qudih, who survived the attacks on the night of November 13, said four projectiles hit the back of his house, killing eight family members. The attack came five days after HonestReporting questioned in its Nov. 8 report whether Qudih, a freelance photographer, and three other Gazabased photographers had any prior knowledge of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel .
Portal vehemently denied HonestReporting’s speculation, as did other international news organizations named in the report. Qudih provided photos to Portal during the Hamas gunmen’s attack on October 7, although he was not a Portal staff photographer.
Qudih said he returned home at around 7:50 p.m. local time just an hour before the attacks on his home, which came seconds apart and without warning. “Israel attacked my house,” he said. When asked why, he added: “I don’t know.”
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Portal was unable to verify who was responsible for the attacks, why Qudih’s home in southern Gaza was attacked or whether the attacks were related to the Nov. 8 HonestReporting report.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which launched a military offensive in Gaza in response to the Oct. 7 attack, declined to say whether its forces carried out the attack and, if so, what its target was. “The IDF is currently focused on eliminating the threat posed by the terrorist organization Hamas. Issues of this nature will be analyzed at a later date,” he said in response to Portal.
In a statement, Portal said it was “deeply saddened” to learn of the deaths of Qudih’s family. It also said that HonestReporting had made “unfounded allegations” against Qudih.
“Afterwards, numerous threats against his safety circulated online. HonestReporting later admitted its allegations were unfounded,” Portal said. “The situation on the ground is extreme and the IDF’s unwillingness to provide assurances about the safety of our personnel jeopardizes its ability to spread news about this conflict without fear of injury or killing.”