Five journalists lost their lives in an overnight Israeli airstrike that targeted their vehicle in Gaza, according to a statement issued by their news outlet and the local hospital on Thursday.
The vehicle, belonging to Al-Quds Today Television, was stationed outside Al-Awda Hospital when it was struck.
The Gaza-based television channel is associated with the Palestine Islamic Jihad militant group, as reported by the hospital.
The victims, identified as Ayman Al-Jadi, Faisal Abu Al-Qumsan, Mohammed Al-Lada’a, Ibrahim Al-Sheikh Ali, and Fadi Hassouna, were reportedly asleep in the vehicle at the time of the attack, fellow journalists at the scene disclosed.
Footage captured after the incident shows the vehicle ablaze with the words “TV” and “PRESS” prominently displayed on its rear doors.
Additional video evidence shows the vehicle entirely consumed by flames.
Al-Quds Today Television condemned the incident, stating that the journalists were killed “while performing their journalistic and humanitarian duty.”
The Israeli military acknowledged carrying out the strike, claiming it targeted an “Islamic Jihad terrorist cell inside in the area of Nuseirat,” though no evidence was provided to substantiate the allegation.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, a US-based nonprofit organization, has reported that at least 141 journalists and media personnel have been killed across Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, and Lebanon since October 7th 2023.
This period, CPJ noted, is the deadliest for journalists since the organization began documenting such data in 1992. Of the fatalities, 133 were Palestinians in Gaza, who CPJ stated face particularly high risks while covering the conflict.
Earlier December, another Israeli airstrike in Gaza claimed the life of an Al Jazeera photojournalist, coinciding with the anniversary of a similar attack that killed one of his colleagues.
Ahmad Al-Louh, 39, and four others were killed when a strike hit an office of the Civil Defense service in Nuseirat Camp, central Gaza, according to Al-Awda Hospital, which treated the victims.
Al Jazeera condemned the killing, stating that Al-Louh was “brutally killed” during his coverage of a Civil Defense rescue mission for a family severely injured in an earlier bombing.
CNN stringer Mohammad Al Sawalhi described Al-Louh as a well-known figure among journalists in Gaza, often embedded with the Civil Defense to document rescue operations.
The Israeli military confirmed its strike on the Civil Defense offices, labeling the site a “command-and-control center” operated by Hamas.
They further alleged that Al-Louh was a “terrorist” with a past affiliation to Islamic Jihad, though they provided no supporting evidence for this claim.
