2 Al-Jazeera journalists killed in Israeli attack in Gaza

Last Updated on August 1, 2024 9:13 am

Two journalists of Al-Jazeera were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the besieged Gaza Strip. The car of these two journalists was targeted in an attack in West Gaza on Wednesday.

They are Al-Jazeera Arabic journalist Ismail Al-Ghoul and his cameraman Rami Al-Rifi.

The attack happened near the house of Ismail Haniya, the recently deceased head of the political wing of the Palestinian resistance organization Hamas.

Haniya was killed in an Israeli missile attack on Iran’s capital Tehran early on Wednesday.

When Ismail and Rami were attacked, both were wearing vests with the words ‘Press’ written on them. There was also a system to identify their vehicles engaged in news gathering. They were in contact with colleagues in the office even 15 minutes before the attack.

The two said on the phone that a house was attacked near where they were gathering news. They have been asked to leave the area immediately. Accordingly, both were killed in the attack on their way to Al-Ahli Arab Hospital.

Israel had no immediate comment on the attack. The country has denied previous attacks on journalists during the 10-month war in Gaza.

In a statement, the Al-Jazeera media network called the attack a “premeditated assassination” by Israeli forces. At the same time, it has promised to take all legal steps to bring the people involved in this crime to justice.

According to the calculations of the New York-based organization Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which works on the rights of journalists, at least 111 journalists and journalists have been killed by Israeli forces since the war in Gaza began on October 7. However, according to the Gaza media office, this number is 165.