El-Khodary came to public attention during the 2008–2009 Israel–Gaza conflict, when Israel prevented correspondents from crossing the Gaza-Israel border and she was among the few correspondents reporting from Gaza. She describes herself as among the "very few objective reporters" covering the conflict.[1] and was praised for the "in-depth, balanced coverage" of the conflict.[5] She feels that her identity, as a Palestinian, was useful to her reporting in Gaza because she was able to "live the story".[2]