201 Palestinian Journalists Killed in Israeli Assaults Since Start of Gaza Genocide
Gaza (Quds News Network)- 201 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Israeli attacks since the start of the ongoing Israeli genocidal war in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office.
Clearly Marked “Press”
On Thursday morning, an Israeli airstrike killed five Palestinian journalists in a clearly marked vehicle outside the Al-Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
The first moment a clearly marked press vehicle in central Gaza was targeted by Israeli forces, killing five Palestinian journalists from Al-Quds Today television channel while they were asleep inside. pic.twitter.com/TcYDCPvGqj
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) December 26, 2024
The journalists, all from Al-Quds Today, are Fadi Hassouna, Ibrahim al-Sheikh Ali, Mohammed al-Ladah, Faisal Abu al-Qumsan and Ayman al-Jadi.
Israeli forces targeted a clearly marked press vehicle in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, killing five Palestinian journalists.
All five work for the satellite channel Al-Quds Today. The journalists were sleeping in the van where they should have been safe.… pic.twitter.com/YWsDZtvOXZ
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) December 26, 2024
Journalist Ayman Al-Jidi, who worked for Al-Quds Today channel, got married during Israel's ongoing genocidal war. Just hours before he was killed, along with four of his colleagues, Ayman was on his way to check on his pregnant wife.
Tragically, on the first birthday of his… pic.twitter.com/fq9bm9TR0S
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) December 26, 2024
Images from the scene show a white-coloured van with the word “press” clearly written in large red letters, engulfed in flame.
This is the clearly marked press vehicle which was targeted by Israeli forces in an overnight attack, killing five Palestinian journalists from Al-Quds Today television channel while they were asleep inside. pic.twitter.com/vjzGbr0ToY
— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) December 26, 2024
The office condemned the killings, calling on the international community and rights groups to condemn Israeli crimes and prosecute them in international courts.
Israel’s military confirmed that it carried out the strike, claiming it targeted a vehicle carrying members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad. However, it provided no evidence to support its claim.
“Bloody Year”
Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has been considered the deadliest for journalists and media workers in the world in 30 years.
Critics accuse Israel – which banned foreign reporters from entering Gaza – of targeting journalists in the Palestinian territory to obscure the truth about its war crimes there.
“Deliberately targeting journalists is a war crime under international law. This attack must be independently investigated and the perpetrators must be held to account,” Programme Director at Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Carlos Martinez de la, said.
In a recent report, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) described 2024 as a “particularly bloody year.”
According to the IFJ’s annual report, as of December 10, 2024, 104 journalists have been killed worldwide since January 1, with more than half of them in Gaza.
Seventy-five percent of all reporters killed in the world in 2023 were killed between October 7 and the end of last year.
IFJ Secretary General Anthony Bellanger described 2024 as “one of the worst years” for media professionals. He condemned the “massacre taking place in Palestine before the eyes of the entire world.”
In a separate report, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said Palestine is the most “dangerous country for journalists, recording a higher death toll than any other country over the past five years.” The report covers data up to December 1.
