Gaza authorities said an Israeli airstrike killed five Palestinian journalists outside a hospital on Thursday, but the Israeli military said it had attacked a vehicle carrying Islamic Jihad militants.
Doctors said the five were among at least 21 people killed in Israeli airstrikes in the Palestinian enclave before dawn, as Hamas and Israel blamed each other for delays in reaching a ceasefire deal after more than 14 months of combats.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said an attack killed five journalists from the Al-Quds Today channel who were in a broadcast vehicle in front of Al-Awda Hospital in the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
The union said more than 190 Palestinian journalists have been killed by Israeli fire since the war began in October 2023.
The Gaza-based channel called the attack a massacre and said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app that the five “were killed while carrying out their humanitarian and media duty.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said they “conducted a precise attack on a vehicle with an Islamic Jihad terrorist cell inside in the Nuseirat area.”
Israel has periodically denied attacking journalists and says it is taking steps to avoid attacking civilians.
The Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad group, an ally of Hamas, has waged several rounds against Israel over the past two decades, and fighters from the group have joined the fighting against Israel since October 2023. It said it also has hostages in its custody.
Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 45,300 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave. Most of the population of 2.3 million has been displaced and much of Gaza is in ruins.
The war was triggered by the Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage in Gaza, according to Israeli counts.
Death toll could rise, doctors say
Video from the scene of Thursday’s attack showed the twisted remains of a white pickup truck with what appeared to be remnants of the word “PRESS” in red on the rear doors.
Later on Thursday, dozens of family members and fellow journalists participated in the funerals of the five journalists, whose bodies were wrapped in white shrouds. Blue bulletproof vests with the word “PRESS” were placed over the shrouded bodies.
“The Israeli military justifies or excuses this attack by stating that it targets individuals involved in Palestinian organizations and cells. However, on the ground, these individuals were carrying out journalistic tasks, residing in press vehicles and covering events,” said Abed Meqdad, a correspondent for the Al-Araby television channel during the funeral.
Women cried over the bodies while men performed special prayers before the burials.
“May God take revenge on them, may God take revenge on them. He is the one who appears on the news and broadcasts the crimes to the world, this is what they do to them,” said the mother of Fadi Hassouna, one of the dead. journalists.
Doctors in the enclave said another eight people were killed and 20 wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City. The death toll could rise as many people were trapped under the rubble, they added.
In Gaza City, an Israeli strike on a house in the Sabra suburb killed eight more people, doctors said, raising Thursday’s death toll to 21.
Israel and Hamas blame each other for ceasefire delay
On Wednesday, Hamas and Israel traded blame for failing to conclude a ceasefire agreement despite reported progress by both sides in recent days.
Hamas said Israel had set new conditions, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the group of backtracking on understandings already reached.
“The occupation has set new conditions related to the withdrawal, ceasefire, prisoners and the return of displaced people, which has delayed the achievement of the agreement that was available,” Hamas said.
Netanyahu responded in a statement: “The terrorist organization Hamas continues to lie, is reneging on agreements that have already been reached, and continues to create difficulties in the negotiations.”
