Witness to media tent bombing: 'We did everything to save Mansour'

The following personal account of Palestinian journalist and MEE contributor Ahmed Aziz, who was in Khan Younis at the scene of the Israeli attack on a journalist tent, was told to our Palestine bureau chief Lubna Masarwa:

We were in the tents around midnight when a strike hit one of the tents. Inside were journalists Hassan Islayeh and Ahmed Mansour; Mansour was working the night shift as an editor at Palestine Today.

Journalist Hilmi al-Faqawi was asleep at the time. Faqawi works in social media for Palestine Today. In that moment, Islayeh’s phone was struck by a direct bomb.

Islayeh went outside, but he was hit with shrapnel in his face, and the fingers on his right hand were severed. At the same time, shrapnel struck Faqawi in the chest, stomach and face.

Given the situation, we tried to put out the intense fire in the tent which was exacerbated by the flammable nylon and sponge material.

Another piece of shrapnel hit the tent in front of us, belonging to Russia Today (RT). It struck a gas cylinder. Although the cylinder was empty, the remaining gas inside created a foggy atmosphere.

Because of the fog, we tried to wake the men and check on them. Our colleague Ehab al-Bourdaineh was hit by shrapnel in the back of his head, which exited through the side of his right eye. He works as a photographer for RT.

You can read the full account below. 

Witness to media tent bombing: 'We did everything to save Mansour'