Abdul Rahman Bahr, a 23-year-old Palestinian journalist who worked as a photographer and camera operator for the independent Palestine Breaking News website that he also co-founded, was killed on October 6, 2024, in an Israeli drone strike on the Al-Karama area of northern Gaza City, according to his mother, who spoke to CPJ.
His mother, Zainab Bahr, told CPJ: “The family had left their home in Al-Karama since the beginning of the war because it is in a dangerous area and there are Israeli military operations.”
“He went with two relatives to check on the home, which also includes the headquarters of Palestine Breaking News, but the Israeli drone targeted them while they were on their way, and Abdul Rahman was martyred along with our two relatives,” she added.
She said that Bahr was her youngest son and he got engaged just before the war, but his wedding ceremony had been postponed prior to being killed.
The Palestine Breaking News website was founded in 2017 by Abdul Rahman and his brothers as an independent media institution, which they ran out of an office in their residential building.
CPJ’s email to the Israel Defense Forces’ North America Media Desk asking whether the military knew there was a journalist in the area it attacked and whether Bahr was targeted for his work did not immediately receive a response.
In June 2026, as part of a review of its documentation of journalists killed in the Israel-Gaza war since 2023, CPJ identified a Facebook post published by a page associated with the Al-Omari Mosque in Jabalia that linked Bahr to armed factions.
After a rigorous verification process, including further desk research and interviews with two credible sources, CPJ found no indication that Bahr participated in combat activities based on the evidence available.
CPJ’s findings are based on the information it was able to independently verify at the time of its review. It continues to investigate cases involving journalists killed in the Israel-Gaza war and routinely reviews and updates its documentation when credible new information becomes available.