Mustafa Thuraya
مصطفى ثريا
Freelance videographer who filmed for Agence France-Presse and other outlets · Northeast of Rafah, southern Gaza
Mustafa Thuraya, a freelance videographer whose footage was used by Agence France-Presse and other news outlets, was killed with Al Jazeera's Hamza al-Dahdouh when an Israeli drone struck their car near Rafah; Israel alleged he was a Hamas commander but published no evidence, a claim his family called false.
Mustafa Thuraya was a freelance video journalist working for Agence France-Presse and other news outlets, one of the young Palestinian videographers on whom international coverage of the war depended. His cousin Muhammad Thuraya described him to Le Monde as “an ambitious and professional young man who was known among journalists for his work,” saying he operated a drone to shoot photos and videos he sold to local and international news agencies.
On the morning of January 7, 2024, Thuraya joined a group of journalists filming the aftermath of an overnight Israeli strike on the Abu al-Naja family home in Nasr village, northeast of Rafah — a visit the reporters had deliberately delayed by a day for fear the site would be struck twice. Thuraya deployed a low-flying drone to film for about four minutes, colleagues told the Committee to Protect Journalists. As the journalists drove away, an Israeli drone fired a missile that wounded two of them; about seven minutes later a second strike hit the car carrying Thuraya, Al Jazeera’s Hamza al-Dahdouh, journalist Hazem Rajab and their driver, Qusai Salem. Thuraya, al-Dahdouh and Salem were killed; Rajab was seriously injured.
The Israeli military gave shifting explanations: that the car carried a “terrorist” whose aircraft threatened troops, that it had fired on drone operators “posing a threat” — an account rejected by colleagues who said no soldiers were in the area — and finally that Thuraya had been a Hamas squad deputy commander, an allegation for which it published no documentation and which his family dismissed as false. UN experts cited the strike in expressing alarm at “disturbing reports” of attacks on journalists wearing press insignia, saying they seemingly indicated a deliberate strategy to obstruct the media.
Sources
Open questions
The Israeli military alleged Thuraya was a Hamas squad deputy commander but shared no documents supporting the claim; his cousin told Le Monde he operated a drone to shoot photos and videos he sold to news agencies. No independent investigation into the strike is known to have occurred.