Gaza’s DEIR AL-BALAH — The Health Ministry said early Thursday that five Palestinian journalists were killed in an Israeli strike outside a hospital in the Gaza Strip overnight. A group of militants was the target, according to the Israeli military.
In the densely populated Nuseirat refugee camp in the center of the region, the strike struck a car outside the Al-Awda Hospital. The reporters were employed by Quds News Network, a local news organization.
The military claimed that it targeted a group of combatants from Islamic Jihad, a Hamas-affiliated militant organization whose attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, sparked the conflict. The burned-out shell of a vehicle was captured on Associated Press video, with press marks still visible on the rear doors.
The funeral outside the hospital was attended by a number of young males. Many of them were crying. All of the bodies were covered with blue press vests and wrapped in white shrouds.
Since the war began, more than 130 Palestinian journalists have been slain, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Other than on military embeds, Israel has prohibited international journalists from entering Gaza.
Israel has accused six of its correspondents in Gaza of being militants and banned the pan-Arab Al Jazeera network. The channel, which is located in Qatar, disputes the claims and charges Israel with attempting to censor its coverage of the conflict, which has primarily concentrated on civilian deaths caused by Israeli military actions.
Separately, the military reported that early on Thursday, a 35-year-old reserve soldier was killed in combat in central Gaza. 389 troops have lost their lives in Gaza since the more than a year ago, the ground operation began.
Hamas-led terrorists unexpectedly crossed the border and attacked neighboring army bases and farmland villages, sparking the start of the war. They kidnapped about 250 people and slaughtered about 1,200 people, most of them were civilians. At least one-third of the 100 hostages who are still inside Gaza are thought to be dead.
The Health Ministry reports that more than 45,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel’s air and ground offensive. It states that women and children have accounted for over half of the deaths, although it doesn’t specify the proportion of warriors that perished. Israel claims to have killed more than 17,000 militants, but it offers no proof.
Approximately 90% of the 2.3 million people living there have been forced from their homes and extensive damage has been caused by the onslaught. With no shelter from the chilly, rainy winter, hundreds of thousands of people are crammed into filthy tent settlements along the coast.
