The Israeli Army says they were members of Islamic Jihad who “posed as journalists” in the Strip
At least five reporters from the Al Quds television channel, linked to the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), have died in a bombing carried out early Thursday morning by the Israeli Army in front of the Al Auda hospital, located in the Nuseirat refugee camp, in the center of the Gaza Strip.
The channel itself has confirmed through its profile on the Telegram channel the death of Faisal Abu al Qumsan, Auman al Yadi, Ibrahim Seij Ali, Fadi Hasuna and Mauhmad al Lada, in an attack against the “external transmission vehicle in the Nuseirat camp, while they were fulfilling their journalistic and humanitarian duty.”
“This Zionist crime adds to the series of crimes of the occupation against journalists and to the war of extermination against our struggling Palestinian people. And we at Al Quds Channel, while mourning the loss (…), affirm that we continue with our media message of resistance,” reads a statement.
After that, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have indicated that their fighter planes have carried out during the night a “targeted attack” against “a vehicle in which a squadron of the terrorist organization Islamic Jihad was located.”
Later, the IDF has stated that the five were members of Islamic Jihad who “posed as journalists,” linking four of them with “propaganda” activities and another with “security” work in the Nuseirat area.
“The information that can be determined to be Islamic Jihad operatives operating under the cover of journalism comes from several intelligence sources, including a list of Islamic Jihad members seized by Israeli forces during their activities in Gaza,” he argued.
He said that this information “clearly links” “four of the eliminated terrorists to the Islamic Jihad terrorist organization,” before arguing that he took steps to “reduce the possibility of harming civilians,” amid complaints about the huge destruction and high death toll from the Israeli attacks.
CONDEMNATION OF THE MURDER OF REPORTERS
For its part, the press office of the Gaza authorities, controlled by Hamas, has condemned “the murder of five journalists while they were carrying out their work” and has called on international press organizations to “condemn the systematic crimes against Palestinian journalists and media workers in Gaza.”
“We hold the Israeli occupation, the US administration and the countries involved in the genocide, including the United Kingdom, Germany and France, fully responsible for this brutal crime,” he said on his Telegram account, where he raised the number of reporters killed since the start of the offensive against Gaza to 201.
He thus called for international proceedings to be opened against Israeli officials for their “crimes” and requested “effective pressure” to “stop the genocide, protect journalists and media professionals in Palestine in general and in Gaza in particular and put an end to the killings against them.”
The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate has joined in the condemnations, highlighting in a statement published on its Facebook account that “this crime is part of a series of Israeli assaults against Palestinian journalists” with the aim of “silencing the truth” and “limiting freedom of expression.”
The organization, which has estimated that “more than 190” journalists and media professionals have been killed since the start of the offensive, has argued that this figure “reveals a systematic attack” against reporters that amounts to “a war crime,” while calling on the international community to give “urgent protection” to Palestinian journalists.
In this way, it has requested “concrete steps to stop these crimes” and has reiterated that “Palestinian journalism will continue to carry out its mission with determination, despite the continuous attempts of the occupation to stop it or threaten it.” “The blood of the martyrs will be a beacon that lights the way to freedom and justice and their sacrifices will not be in vain,” it concluded.
The Israeli army launched its offensive against the Gaza Strip following the attacks carried out on October 7, 2023 by Hamas and other Palestinian factions, which left some 1,200 dead and nearly 250 kidnapped, according to the reports provided by the Israeli government.
The Israeli offensive has already left nearly 45,400 Palestinians dead in the enclave, according to the Gazan authorities, while around 810 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and in attacks carried out by settlers since then.
