Gaza—As the genocide continues, Israel killed five Palestinian journalists in Gaza in one strike early Thursday morning. The journalists were covering events near Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. They were working for the Palestinian TV channel Al-Quds Today.
According to a report from Al Jazeera citing witnesses, when the strike hit, the journalists were sleeping in a van in front of the hospital as the wife of one of the deceased, Ayman al-Jadi, was giving birth to their first child inside, Al Jazeera reported citing witnesses.
Images posted online show the vehicle clearly marked with the words ‘press’ and ‘TV’ in large red letters visible on the back doors of the vehicle. Further footage from the scene circulating on X shows the van engulfed in flames.
Civil defense teams retrieved the bodies of the victims and extinguished a fire at the scene, the Quds News Network said.
Israel has killed more than 190 Palestinian journalists and injured at least 400 injured since it started its war in Gaza in October 2023. The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate condemned the “heinous attack” and called for “international protection” for journalists in Gaza.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said this month that at least 141 journalists have been killed in Gaza, calling on the international community to hold Israel accountable for its attacks against the media.
CPJ said on Thursday that it was “devastated” by reports of the five journalists killed inside their broadcasting vehicle. “Journalists are civilians and must always be protected,” it said on X platform.
The killed journalists have been named as Fadi Hassouna, Ibrahim al-Sheikh Ali, Mohammed al-Ladah, Faisal Abu al-Qumsan and Ayman al-Jadi.
Paris-based Reporters Without Borders said this month that more than 145 journalists had been killed by the Israeli army in Gaza since the start of the war in October 2023, condemning the high death toll as an “unprecedented massacre”.