Killing of Ahmed Abu Mutair

Ahmed Abu Mutair, a Palestinian broadcast engineer, was killed by an Israel Defense Forces drone strike on October 19, 2025. The strike targeted the offices of the Palestine Media Company in Gaza, killing Mutair and an 8-year-old child, and injuring a cameraman. The killing was condemned by multiple international organizations dedicated to the protection of journalists, including the National Union of Journalists, the International Federation of Journalists, and the Palestinian Journalists' Syndicate, who called for an investigation into the killing. The Israeli Army accused Mutair of being a Hamas platoon commander; an investigation by Der Spiegel found inconsistencies in the document supporting the accusation, and was inconclusive.

Mutair is listed on UNESCO's Observatory of Killed Journalists as a cross-platform media worker; UNESCO's director general condemned his killing.

Background Over 220 journalists covering the conflict had been killed by Israeli forces at the time of Mutair's death, more than in any other modern conflict.

Ahmed Abu Mutair Mutair was a 37-year-old engineer working for the broadcasting arm of the Palestine Media Production (PMP). One colleague described Mutair as a "brilliant professional, an educated, liberal man." Forty-five other Palestinians in Gaza were killed by Israeli forces on the same day Mutair was killed.

Reactions

One PMP journalist described the attack on Palestinian journalists as "deliberate". On October 27, ZDF stated that Israel provided information indicating that Mutair was a member of Hamas. ZDF released a statement stating that it had suspended all collaboration with PMP, and that based on a document provided by Israeli, "ZDF assumes that the engineer [Mutair] was a member of the Qassam Brigades." Mutair is listed on UNESCO's Observatory of Killed Journalists.

Later events

Palestinian journalist Mohammed al-Munirawi was killed by Israeli forces several days after Mutair.