On 10 October, three Palestinian journalists Said al-Tawil, director of Al-Khamisa news agency; photojournalist Mohammed Sobboh and photographer Hisham Al-Nawajha, who both worked for Khabar news agency, were killed by an Israeli airstrike that hit a residential building near Gaza City's fishing port, AFP reported. The Hamas-run government said that the three reporters were covering the evacuation of a residential building nearby, when the missile struck.   

In the early hours of 7 October, Hamas launched an unprecedented attack in southern Israel. In response, Israel retaliated with airstrikes over the besieged Gaza Strip and formally declared war at Hamas.