Three Palestinian journalists were killed and two others seriously wounded in an Israeli airstrike on the courtyard of the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, Palestinian sources said on Thursday, reported Xinhua.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the strike targeted an Islamic Jihad operative at the site.
Local sources and eyewitnesses said that an Israeli drone launched at least one missile in a surprise attack on a group of journalists gathered in the hospital's courtyard.
Fadel Naeem, director of the Al-Ahli Hospital, told Xinhua that the airstrike killed three journalists instantly. Two others were critically injured and taken into surgery.
In a statement, the IDF said it had "precisely struck an Islamic Jihad terrorist who was operating in a command and control center in the yard of the Al-Ahli Hospital."
"The command and control center was used by the terrorists to plan and execute attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops," the statement added.
The Hamas-run Gaza government identified the journalists killed as Samir al-Rifai, a reporter for the local Shams news website, and Suleiman Hajjaj and Ismail Badah, both working for the Palestine Today television channel.
According to local authorities, the total number of journalists killed in Gaza since the start of the war has now reached 225.
Gaza-based health authorities said that since Israel intensified its military campaign on March 18, at least 4,402 Palestinians have been killed and 13,489 wounded. The overall death toll in Gaza since the war began in October 2023 has climbed to 54,677, with 125,530 people injured.
- Israeli
- Genocide
- Gaza
Source: www.dailyfinland.fi
