At least four Palestinian journalists were killed in Israeli strikes targeting a group of media workers in Gaza City’s al-Ahli Arab hospital’s courtyard, local reporters told Middle East Eye.
According to local sources, the attack on Thursday morning came with no prior warning of the bombing.
The Israeli assault has so far claimed the lives of correspondent Suleiman Hajjaj and photographer Ismail Badah, who both worked for Palestine Today TV, alongside photographers Samir al-Rifai, who worked for the Shams News Agency, and Ahmed Qaljah, who worked for Al-Arabiya TV.
Journalist Imad Daloul, who works for Palestine Today TV, was also critically injured in the Israeli attack and has been rushed to the intensive care unit.
Footage online shows bodies scattered across the courtyards of the Al-Ahli Hospital, otherwise known as the Baptist Hospital, as Palestinians attempt to aid one another.
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Reporters told MEE that Israeli warplanes targeted the hospital’s courtyards as journalists were covering the events on the ground.
Hamas released a statement condemning a “new war crime” by Israel.
“This is part of a systematic Zionist policy targeting Palestinian journalists to silence their voices, deter them from covering the occupation’s crimes in Gaza, and obliterate its just narrative of the enemy’s horrific crimes against our Palestinian people,” the group said.
“This crime constitutes a complex war crime, as it assassinated journalists protected under the Geneva Conventions and all international conventions, and bombed a civilian hospital protected under international law.
“This reflects the insistence of the criminal government of Benjamin Netanyahu to expand the scope of its crimes of genocide against the Palestinian people and its blatant disregard for the international community and its legal and humanitarian system.”
‘Worst-ever conflict’ for journalists
Thursday’s killing of journalists is the latest in a wave of deadly Israeli attacks on Palestinian media workers.
The Israeli war on Gaza has been described by monitoring groups as the “worst-ever conflict” for journalists, due to the record number of media workers killed – at least 225 in 2o months.
Israel’s war on Gaza ‘worst ever conflict’ for journalists: Report
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According to a report published last month by the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Israel’s war on Gaza since October 2023 has “killed more journalists than the US Civil War, World Wars I and II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War (including the conflicts in Cambodia and Laos), the wars in Yugoslavia in the 1990s and 2000s, and the post-9/11 war in Afghanistan, combined”.
“In 2023, a journalist or media worker was, on average, killed or murdered every four days. In 2024, it was once every three days,” said the report.
“Most reporters harmed or killed, as is the case in Gaza, are local journalists.”
The Israeli military has frequently justified its attacks on civilian sites in Gaza, including hospitals, by alleging that Hamas uses them for military operations.
The latest Israeli assault brings the number of journalists killed since 7 October 2023 to 225, Arab48 reported.
Overall, Israeli forces have killed more than 54,607 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war and wounded 125,341 others.
