At least 176 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023. The danger feels omnipresent for Maha Hussaini, a journalist and human rights advocate who has been contributing articles and videos to The New Humanitarian from the Gaza Strip since early on in the brutal campaign.
In this conversation, Maha takes us inside the day-to-day reality of working and surviving amidst unimaginable violence, destruction, and deprivation. She describes how journalists in the Gaza Strip live with the constant fear that they could be killed at any moment, yet remain determined to document the unfolding catastrophe as long as they can.
Maha shares the heavy burden of reporting on stories she is personally living: covering starvation while hungry herself, and reporting on displacement while being forcibly displaced from her own home. She also reflects on the gap between international law and real-world action, the failure of governments to uphold human rights, and the Western media’s tendency to reduce Palestinian lives to mere statistics.
In one of the latest incidents on 5 June 2025, three journalists were among those killed when Israel struck al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City. According to the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate, the Israel Defence Forces directly targeted a media tent in the hospital compound.
Journalists have been working from hospital compounds where there is relatively steady internet service, electricity, and a sense of safety in numbers, but despite clear markings of media tents and press vests, the Israeli military has on multiple occasions targeted and killed journalists.
Watch the full interview with Maha below:
Videos edited by Namukabo Werungah. Text edited by Andrew Gully and Eric Reidy.
