SHAIKH JAHUR published: ২৭ ডিসেম্বর, ২০২৪, ০৬:২৭ এএম
Five journalists have been killed in an overnight Israeli strike that hit their vehicle in Gaza, a hospital and their news outlet said in a statement on Thursday.
The vehicle, belonging to Al-Quds Today Television, was parked outside Al-Awda Hospital when it was hit, according to the hospital. The Gaza-based television channel is affiliated with the Palestine Islamic Jihad militant group.
Ayman Al-Jadi, Faisal Abu Al-Qumsan, Mohammed Al-Lada'a, Ibrahim Al-Sheikh Ali, and Fadi Hassouna all were sleeping in the car when the strike hit, other journalists at the scene said.
Footage of the aftermath seen by CNN shows the vehicle in flames with the words "TV" and "PRESS" in large letters visible on the back doors. Another video seen by CNN shows it completely engulfed by flames.
Al-Quds Today Television condemned the attack and said the five were killed "while performing their journalistic and humanitarian duty."
The Israeli military confirmed it carried out the strike on what it said was an "Islamic Jihad terrorist cell inside in the area of Nuseirat," but did not provide any proof for its allegations.
At least 141 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel and Lebanon since October 7th last year, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a US-based non-profit group. "It is the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992," CPJ said.
Of those killed, 133 were Palestinians in Gaza, who "face particularly high risks as they try to cover the conflict.
Earlier this month, a barrage of Israeli airstrikes into Gaza killed an Al Jazeera photojournalist, marking a day to the month ago an attack killed one of his colleagues.
According to Al-Awda Hospital, which treated casualties of the strike, four people besides Ahmad Al-Louh, 39 years old, were reported to be killed by this attack targeting the office of Civil Defense in Nuseirat Camp located in central Gaza.
Al Jazeera denounced the attack, stating that Al-Louh was "brutally killed" while reporting on an attempt by Civil Defense forces to rescue a family gravely injured in an earlier bombing.
Mohammad Al Sawalhi, CNN stringer in Gaza, said Al-Louh was well known among journalists in Gaza and often followed Civil Defense forces as they carry out rescue missions in his capacity as a journalist.
Israeli confirmed that it targeted the offices of Civil Defense in what it called a "surgical strike," saying that the site was being used as a "command-and-control center" by Hamas and claiming Al-Louh was a "terrorist" who had once served with Islamic Jihad. The IDF did not produce any evidence for its accusations.
Five journalists killed in Israeli strike in Gaza, hospital says
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