Exclusive: US contractors in Gaza pursued MEE journalist before his killing

US contractors at a Gaza aid centre interrogated a source of Middle East Eye journalist Mohamed Salama seeking information about his identity and whereabouts before he was killed, MEE can reveal.

Salama was killed alongside MEE reporter Ahmed Abu Aziz and three other journalists on Monday morning as they responded to an attack on Nasser hospital in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis. The two strikes killed 20 Palestinians overall, including medics and first responders.

Days before, a source for one of Salama’s major investigations for MEE told him that they had been briefly detained at an aid distribution centre by US security contractors guarding the site.

There, the source said, they had been interrogated about the identity of the reporter behind the story. Salama worked on the story anonymously for security reasons.

“The source would not have been in contact with me unless they thought something was deeply wrong,” Salama told colleagues at the time.

Read more: Exclusive: US contractors in Gaza pursued MEE journalist before his killing