Five more journalists were killed by the Israeli military on Monday after an airstrike on a hospital in Gaza.
Journalists and rescue workers were killed in a secondary attack after they rushed to investigate after the Israeli military struck Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
Mariam Dagga (pictured), 33, a freelance journalist working for Associated Press, was killed alongside Al Jazeera photographer Mohammed Salama and Reuters cameraman Hussam al-Masri. Moaz Abu Taha, a freelance journalist whose work has also been used by Reuters, was also killed in the strike.
Ahmed Abu Aziz, a journalist working for UK-based Middle East Eye, was also killed in the attack.
Middle East Eye’s Daniel Hilton wrote yesterday: “Working through pain, displacement, hunger and bombardment, the 28-year-old relentlessly reported from southern Gaza for Middle East Eye throughout Israel’s genocide.
“On Monday, Israel killed him alongside four other journalists and a rescue worker as they attended the scene of the latest Israeli attack on a Gaza hospital.”
Middle East Eye quoted NBC journalist Sameer al Bouji who said: “Ahmed messaged me minutes before his death and was urging me to focus the coverage on the plight of children dying from starvation. He was a simple but dedicated man. He only married recently and was full of dreams.”
However, last week a UN-backed body reported that 500,000 Palestinians were currently starving to death as a result of Israel’s actions to stop food from entering the region.
AP and Reuters have sent a joint letter to Israeli ministers demanding a “clear explanation” for the airstrikes on Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis on 25 August.
The agencies said: “We are outraged that independent journalists were among the victims of this strike on the hospital, a location that is protected under international law. These journalists were present in their professional capacity, doing critical work bearing witness. Their work is especially vital in light of Israel’s nearly two-year ban on foreign journalists entering Gaza.”
Al Jazeera managing editor Mohamed Moawad told Sky News: “They were reporting closer to the hospital, knowing that was somehow safer than the frontline,” he said. “We’re talking about a crime against journalism.”
Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah was killed by an Israeli tank crew whilst reporting from inside Lebanon on 13 October, a kilometre away from the Israeli border. The CPJ has concluded that his killing was “murder”.
According to CPJ records, Al Jazeera has lost eight journalists killed during the Israel-Gaza conflict. Four Al Jazeera journalists and two freelance journalists were killed in a deliberate Israeli strike on tented housing in Gaza City two weeks ago.
The US-based Committee to Protect Journalists has recorded the deaths of 190 journalists and media workers in Gaza since 24 October 2023. It has concluded that 21 of these were deliberately targeted by military officials in attacks which it describes as murder. A further eight journalists have been killed in Lebanon by Israeli military action during the conflict.
General secretary of the UK National Union of Journalists Laura Davison said: “The killing of civilians, including five journalists, on Monday must become a catalyst for a renewed global campaign to end the senseless bloodshed in Gaza through an immediate ceasefire and the opening up of the region to international journalists and media organisations.
“The Geneva Convention requires countries to respect all civilians and civilian institutions, including hospitals. Media installations are also protected under international law. The killings underline once more the need for an independent investigation into the Israeli government’s actions, including its targeting of journalists.
“Those of us who have witnessed the previous targeting of journalists are extremely reluctant to accept the description of the Nasser hospital attack as a ‘mishap’. An immediate ceasefire, the release of all hostages, and an end to the cycle of violence is the only rational response to the devastating death and destruction at Nasser Hospital.”
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