Reporting from Gaza: Belal Khaled tells his story

Visiting South Africa for the first time, Palestinian artist and war photographer Belal Khaled met with a mixed group of journalists, activists, and allies of Palestine at a press briefing hosted by Salaam Media earlier this week. The event took place on Monday in Sandton, at the Nelson Mandela Foundation. At the gathering, Khaled shared his experiences of being a journalist in Gaza and the deep emotional drive that compels him to continue telling the stories of the people who are suffering and dying at the hands of the Israeli regime.

Khaled grew up in the refugee camps of Gaza and watched as the occupation by the Israeli forces took Palestinian lives and land his whole life. “When I was on my way to Gaza, I had it in my mind always: you may get killed, you may get shot or injured. Because as a journalist in Gaza you are on the frontline; we risk our lives just to capture the moment and tell the story. But I didn’t care about this.”

Khaled spoke about the 7^th of October, a time when he was in Doha. He took a flight home immediately after watching the news and seeing what was happening in Gaza. He arrived the next day feeling desperate to be with his family.

He continued: “Soon after, they started attacking journalists. Our colleagues were killed by the Israeli government just for carrying a camera and covering the truth. This bothers the occupation because we are exposing them to the world and so they attack us. For these reasons, we continue to do our work,” said Khaled.

250 journalists have been killed by the Israeli government. Although journalists are protected under international law, in Gaza, they work under constant threat of bombing, arrest, and death. According to Reporters Without Borders, at least 22 of these deaths occurred on assignment, with many clearly identifiable as press workers. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) recorded 2024 as ‘the deadliest year for journalists in its 30-year history‘ with 85 Palestinian journalists killed – nearly 70% of all journalists killed worldwide. As of early 2025, the International Federation of Journalists and the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate tallied more than 170 Palestinian journalists and media workers killed since the start of the war on Gaza.

A day in Gaza

“To be a photojournalist in Gaza is a challenge because it is very difficult to find balance between your job, your humanity, and your family. How you will cover stories and still evacuate, move from one place to another, carry water and other supplies to your family. It is very difficult. If someone gets injured or sick, how will you help them?”

Khaled spoke of journalists’ dread of reporting on Israel’s assault on hospitals, with the abiding fear of finding one of their loved ones there. This became a common experience for many of them. “A lot of my colleagues who reported on people ended up reporting about themselves. As journalists, we became a part of the story. In Gaza, we became the main part of the story, when they attack you and you have to bury your family.”

Khaled said that his family home was bombed in the first month of October soon after his arrival. This attack left both his mom and sister injured. “After two months they attacked the house again. We moved again, we lost our house forever because of the bombing. This is the kind of cost of your job and mission. Many journalists lose limbs, kids, houses, offices. None of them stop the mission,” said Khaled.
 
He described a day in the life of a journalist in Gaza as starting at the hospital. “From the first week of the war, we lost all our offices. The occupation forced people and media and those living in the north to go south. We were without offices. This was one of our biggest challenges; we had nowhere to work.”
 
After weeks of working from their cars and nearby cafés, media houses started to set up tents at the hospitals, which became their offices and eventually their homes. “We were woken up by screams of people who were injured every day. We opened our eyes, and we covered this from the gate to the emergency room, and then to the houses that were attacked. This is because we can’t move at night. It is too risky. All our days are between the hospital, the bombed houses, the bodies, and back to the tents, where we can charge our devices and share the stories.”

In his closing thoughts, Khaled reminded: None of us stop the mission. His words underscore the urgency of safeguarding journalists, upholding press freedom, and condemning deliberate targeting of the media.