Hussam al-Masri, the Reuters journalist killed by Israeli fire on Monday (August 25) while operating a live video feed at Gaza's Nasser Hospital, reported on the war's civilian suffering while himself living in a tent and struggling to find food for his family.

Masri, 49, was an experienced cameraman whose positive approach in the most dangerous situations made him popular among Gaza's tight-knit community of reporters, journalist colleagues said.

"Tomorrow will be better," he would say, even as conditions in the Palestinian enclave descended further into hunger and desperation in the months leading up to his death.

That was how he ended his last conversation with Mohamed Salem, a senior visuals journalist for Reuters who had known Masri since 2003 and worked alongside him in Rafah, in the south of Gaza, last year.

Salem, who left Gaza later in 2024 but was in daily touch with Masri until Monday morning, said his optimism and smiles made him a pleasure to work with.

Reuters editor in chief Alessandra Galloni said "Hussam was deeply devoted to telling the story of Gaza to the world."

"He was strong, steady and courageous in the most challenging of circumstances. His loss is deeply felt by all of those in this newsroom who worked with him."

Masri's body was recovered alongside his camera in an external stairwell at the hospital, from where he had been broadcasting the view across Khan Younis when the Israeli strike hit, Reuters video shows. A second blast on the stairwell minutes later killed at least 19 people, including rescue workers and four journalists who had worked for outlets including the Associated Press, Al Jazeera and others. One of the four, Moaz Abu Taha, provided visuals to Reuters and others.

Reuters photographer Hatem Khaled was injured in the second attack while on the stairs filming the aftermath of the first blast.

Israel's military told Reuters on Tuesday (August 26) that the journalists for Reuters and the Associated Press were not "a target of the strike." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel deeply regretted what he called the "tragic mishap" at the hospital.

The Committee to Protect Journalists, which said after the strikes it had documented a total of 189 Palestinian journalists killed by Israel during the war in Gaza, has called for the international community to hold Israel accountable and on Monday said "the perpetrators must no longer be allowed to act with impunity."

Masri's wife, Samaher, 39, has cancer and he had been trying to get her out of Gaza for treatment before he was killed. The couple had four children: Shahd, 23, Mohammed, 22, Shatha, 18 and Ahmad, 15.

Masri was born and raised in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. He earned a diploma in journalism before starting work as a freelancer in 1998 including for the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation. His passion for journalism stemmed from a desire to show the world what was happening in Gaza, his wife said.

"This was Hussam's role in the media: to deliver the truth to the outlets," said his brother, Ezzeldin al-Masri. "The camera is recording, whether for or against us. The camera recorded whether there were Palestinian gunmen or Israeli occupation forces."

The family fled their home when Israel's military ordered all civilians to leave Khan Younis as it expanded its offensive there shortly after the war started in response to the Hamas attacks of October 2023.

The family later learned their home had been destroyed.

In a video he recorded of himself and posted to a WhatsApp group shared with other journalists last year, Masri described his grief at the loss of his home and neighborhood.

"Nothing remains but ruins - ruins we weep over," he said. The family returned to Khan Younis in July of last year, taking shelter in a tent.

Masri began working for Reuters as a contractor in Rafah near the frontier with Egypt in May 2024, eight months into the conflict. In his role, he was involved in live broadcasting from displacement camps and recording the entry of humanitarian aid through the Rafah border crossing.

Since returning to Khan Younis he was responsible for the feed Reuters broadcast daily from Nasser Hospital, which provided a constant real-time display of Gaza and was used by Reuters media clients around the world.

"Hussam has done this grueling task day in and day out for months, mainly from Nasser Hospital but also from Rafah when the story merited it," said Labib Nasir, Reuters' visual editor for the Middle East and North Africa.

Masri also reported stories around southern Gaza, often using contacts he had developed at the hospital to provide vivid accounts of the unfolding humanitarian disaster including stories on malnutrition in Gaza, parts of which are officially in famine.

His last such story, filmed on Saturday (August 23), showed families mourning over bodies of relatives, including children, killed in Israeli strikes that have taken at least 62,000 Palestinian lives in the war.

Masri had chosen to look after the live feed at Nasser Hospital in part because he believed it was the safest place he could operate from, said Salem, who spoke to him each morning as he set up his camera.

During their final conversation, Masri described how difficult life had become in Gaza and the struggle to find food.

Hours later, in an image captured by Reuters, his body was laid out on a stretcher.

DESCRIPCIÓN DE IMÁGENES

1. SELFIE VIDEO FOR HUSSAM AL-MASRI FILMING WITH HIS PHONE AND SAYING (Arabic):

"I was happy here, with my family — a beautiful family, full of love and affection. And now the house that sheltered us is gone. Gone, and all that remains are ruins, just a pile of sand. This pile of sand reminds us there was life here. There was life, and still our people hold on to hope."

KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (AUGUST 26, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

2. BANNER WITH PHOTO OF AL-MASRI NEXT TO HIS CAMERA

3. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) BROTHER OF PALESTINIAN REUTERS CAMERAMAN HUSSAM AL-MASRI, EZZELDIN AL-MASRI, SAYING:

“Hussam is my younger brother, but for me he was more like a son, and a support for me since the start of our work in media. He was one of those children who was loved for his humour and energy. Let’s say, in simple words, he was very loved by everyone. Hussam was always at the centre of attention wherever he went — bringing smiles and spreading joy with his witty jokes. Ever since his childhood, he was active, social, and very well-mannered."

KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (FILE) (EZZELDIN AL-MASRI - No archives / no resale/ Must on-screen courtesy EZZELDIN AL-MASRI)

4. VIDEO OF AL-MASRI LAUGHING AND TALKING WITH A FRIEND / FRIEND SAYING (Arabic):

"There are gunshots, man, and you’re sitting there laughing? They’re shooting at us while we were just sitting man." / AL-MASRI REPLYING (Arabic): "Well, what can we do."

KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (AUGUST 25, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all)

5. DAMAGED BUILDING IN NASSER HOSPITAL FOLLOWING ISRAELI STRIKE / PEOPLE WALKING TOWARDS BUILDING

6. MAN HOLDING BROADCAST LIVEU UNIT AND MICROPHONE AT SCENE OF FIRST STRIKE, SHOUTING TO PEOPLE BELOW

7. CAMERA WITH MICROPHONE AND LIVEU UNIT COVERED IN DUST, BLOOD ON STEPS

8. BLOOD SPATTER ON WALL

9. MEN, SOME WEARING EMERGENCY RESPONDER UNIFORMS, GATHERING NEXT TO BODIES FROM SCENE OF STRIKE

10. BLAST OCCURS AS PEOPLE ARE ON BALCONY / THICK DUST COVERS CAMERA

KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (AUGUST 25, 2025) (ALGHAD TV - Must onscreen courtesy Alghad TV)

11. ALTERNATE CAMERA ANGLE TO PEOPLE LOOKING THROUGH DAMAGE ON HOSPITAL STEPS AND BALCONY / MAN HOLDING BROADCAST LIVEU UNIT AND MICROPHONE AT SCENE OF FIRST STRIKE, SHOUTING TO PEOPLE BELOW

12. WHITE FLASH

13. PHOTOGRAPHER HATEM KHALED, A REUTERS CONTRACTOR (RED SHIRT) FILMING ON HIS PHONE AND TAKING PHOTOGRAPHS AND VIDEO OF THE SCENE (SHOTS 5-10 IN SHOTLIST) / MEN AND CIVIL DEFENCE WORKERS IN AREA OF BUILDING AS IT IS HIT BY AN AIRSTRIKE / PEOPLE ON THE GROUND RUNNING AWAY FROM HOSPITAL

KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (AUGUST 26, 2025) (REUTERS – Access all)

14. VARIOUS OF AL-MASRI'S EQUIPMENTS COVERED WITH DUST AND BLOOD

15. EZZELDIN AL-MASRI HOLDING HIS BROTHER'S CAMERA AND SAYING (Arabic):

“This transmission device, the microphone, all of this equipment — in the last moments they mixed with Hussam’s blood, as if he refused to part with them even after his death.”

16. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) BROTHER OF PALESTINIAN REUTERS CAMERAMAN HUSSAM AL-MASRI, EZZELDIN AL-MASRI, SAYING:

“These are Hussam’s equipment that were broadcasting at the time of the attack. This is what remains, the camera, the microphone, the live transmission device, the power unit, this is what remains. His portable devices, two, were also directly targeted. We couldn’t recover the iPhone or the other device, and of course all his work was in it, his filming, accounts, all were lost in the strike. This is all that’s left of the equipment Hussam was using during the broadcast.”

17. VARIOUS OF AL-MASRI'S BROADCAST LIVEU UNIT AND CAMERA, BOTH DAMAGED AND WITH STAINS OF BLOOD

18. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) BROTHER OF PALESTINIAN REUTERS CAMERAMAN HUSSAM AL-MASRI, EZZELDIN AL-MASRI, SAYING:

“Since his early childhood, I can say for about 30, 32, or 33 years nearly and Hussam has carried a camera almost daily. Even during his vacations, sometimes he spent them filming. Hussam never stopped filming for 33 years.”

VARIOUS UNIDENTIFIED LOCATIONS (FILE) (REUTERS - Access all) (MUTE)

19. VARIOUS STILL PHOTOGRAPHS OF REUTERS CAMERAMAN HUSSAM AL-MASRI

KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (AUGUST 26, 2025) (REUTERS – Access all)

20. PEOPLE PAYING CONDOLENCES TO HUSSAM AL-MASRI'S BROTHER

21. VARIOUS OF DAMAGED FACADE AT NASSER HOSPITAL WHERE THE ISRAELI STRIKE HIT

22. (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) BROTHER OF PALESTINIAN REUTERS CAMERAMAN HUSSAM AL-MASRI, EZZELDIN AL-MASRI, SAYING:

“This was Hussam’s role in the media, to deliver the truth to the outlets. The camera is recording whether for or against us. The camera recorded whether there were Palestinian gunmen or Israeli occupation forces. Hussam was just documenting with his camera. He was not part of the events, not creating the events, only documenting the events."

23. VARIOUS OF PEOPLE PAYING CONDOLENCES TO HUSSAM AL-MASRI'S BROTHER

KHAN YOUNIS, GAZA (AUGUST 25, 2025) (REUTERS - Access all) (PART MUTE)

24. FINAL LIVE SHOT FILMED BY REUTERS CAMERAMAN HUSSAM AL-MASRI FROM KHAN YOUNIS FROM 0708GMT / VIDEO FREEZES AS IT GOES MUTE