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In an Israeli attack, five Palestinian journalists were killed in front of the hospital in the Gaza Strip during the night, the Ministry of Health announced early Thursday. The Israeli military said all five were militants posing as journalists.
The impact hit a car in front of Al-Awda Hospital in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp in the central part of the territory. The journalists were working for the local news outlet Al-Quds Today, a television channel linked to the Islamic Jihad militant group.
Islamic Jihad is a smaller and more extreme ally of Hamas, and participated in its attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which ignited the conflict. The Israeli military identified the four men as militant propagandists and said intelligence, including a list of Islamic Jihad operatives found by soldiers in Gaza, confirmed that all five were affiliated with the group.
Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian militant groups run political, media and charity operations in addition to their armed wings.
Footage from the Associated Press showed the van’s charred shell, with press insignia still visible on the back door. Several young men attended the funeral outside the hospital, many of them sobbing. All the bodies were wrapped in white shrouds, and blue journalist vests were draped 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 reporters into Gaza except on military transports.
Israel banned the pan-Arab network Al Jazeera and charged six of its reporters from Gaza to be militants. The Qatar-based broadcaster denies the allegations and accuses Israel of trying to silence its coverage of the conflict, which has largely focused on civilian casualties in Israeli military operations.
Separately, the military said a 35-year-old reservist was killed during fighting in central Gaza early Thursday. Since the beginning of the ground operation more than a year ago, a total of 389 soldiers have been killed in Gaza.
The conflict began when Hamas-led militants stormed across the border in a surprise attack on nearby military bases and farming communities. They killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped about 250. About 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, of whom at least a third are believed to be dead.
Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, according to the Ministry of Health. He says that more than half of the dead were women and children, but it does not say how many of the dead were fighters. Israel claims to have killed over 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The offensive caused widespread destruction and drove about 90 percent of the population of 2.3 million from their homes. Hundreds of thousands were crammed into squalid tent camps along the coast, with little protection from the cold, wet winter.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
