An Israeli strike killed five Palestinian journalists outside a hospital in the Gaza Strip overnight, the Ministry of Health said early Thursday. The Israeli military said all five were soldiers posing as journalists.
The strike hit a car outside the Al-Awda hospital in the Nuseirat refugee camp in the center of the city. The journalists were working for the local news channel Al-Quds Today, which is a television channel linked to the Islamic Jihad terrorist group.
Islamic Jihad is the youngest and most extreme partner of Hamas, and participated in its attack on 7 Oct. 2023 in southern Israel, which caused a conflict. The Israeli military identified four of the men as militants and said intelligence, including a list of Islamic Jihad fighters found by the Gaza military, had confirmed that all five were members of the group.
Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian militant groups conduct political, media and humanitarian activities in addition to their armed wings.
Pictures from the Associated Press showed the van’s charred shell, with tire marks still visible on the rear doors. There were many young men who attended the funeral outside the hospital, most of them were crying. All the bodies were wrapped in white clothes, and blue vests were placed over them.
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The Committee to Protect Journalists says more than 130 Palestinian journalists have been killed since the conflict began. Israel has not allowed foreign journalists to enter Gaza without the military.
Israel has blocked the pan-Arab Al Jazeera network and accused six of its journalists from Gaza of being terrorists. The Qatar-based broadcaster denies the allegations and accuses Israel of trying to cover up its fears over the conflict, which has focused mainly on the killing of civilians as a result of Israeli military operations.
Separately, the military said a 35-year-old soldier was killed during fighting in central Gaza early Thursday. 389 soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the operation began more than a year ago.
The conflict began when terrorists led by Hamas stormed the border and attacked nearby military bases and farming communities. They killed about 1,200 people, most of whom were civilians, and kidnapped about 250 people. Another 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to have died.
Israeli air and ground attacks have killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, according to the Ministry of Health. It says that more than half of the dead were women and children, but it does not say how many of the dead were soldiers. Israel says it has killed more than 17,000 soldiers, without providing evidence.
The attack caused widespread destruction and displaced nearly 90 percent of 2.3 million people from their homes. Hundreds of thousands are packed in filthy tents along the coast, with little protection from the cold and wet winter.
© 2024 The Canadian Press