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THE ISRAELI ARMY killed 11 people in Gaza yesterday, including three journalists who were struck while travelling in a “clearly marked civilian vehicle”, in the latest violation of a ceasefire agreement reached last October.
Israel has been shelling areas across the besieged Palestinian territory this week, and the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces there since October now stands at 477, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Israel has said three of its troops have been killed in the same period.
In a statement, Gaza’s civil defence said the three journalists were killed in an Israeli air strike in the Al-Zahra area, southwest of Gaza City, naming the dead as Mohammed Salah Qashta, Abdul Raouf Shaat and Anas Ghneim.
The latest killing of media workers has been condemned by international media representative organisations the Committee to Protect Journalist (CPJ) and Reporters Without Borders (RSF).
“CPJ condemns Israel’s strike on a clearly marked civilian vehicle in central Gaza that killed freelance photojournalists Abed Shaat, Mohammad Qeshta, and Anas Ghnaim, amid an ongoing ceasefire,” said CPJ regional director Sara Qudah.
“Israel, which possesses advanced technology capable of identifying its targets, has an obligation under international law to protect journalists.”
“This isolated strike on journalists who were identifiable by their reporting equipment could indicate targeting and constitute a war crime,” Martin Roux, head of RSF’s crisis desk, said in a statement.
Shaat had worked with Agence France-Presse on many occasions and the news agency said it was mourning his loss, saying he would be remembered as a “kind-hearted colleague, with a gentle sense of humour, and as a deeply committed journalist”.
The agency called for “a full and transparent investigation into his death”.
“Far too many local journalists have been killed in Gaza over the past two years while foreign journalists remain unable to enter the territory freely.”
Israel has killed more than 200 journalists since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza.
In a statement following yesterday’s attack, the Israeli military said it had “identified several suspects who operated a drone affiliated with Hamas in the central Gaza Strip”.
The military did not elaborate on what it meant by a “drone affiliated with Hamas”.
“Due to the threat that the drone posed to the troops, the (Israeli military) precisely struck the suspects who activated the drone,” it said, adding that the details were under review.
According to an eyewitness, the journalists were using a drone to take images of aid distribution by the Egyptian Relief Committee in the Gaza Strip when a strike targeted a vehicle accompanying them.
The Egyptian aid group confirmed one of its vehicles was targeted by Israel in a strike that killed three people.
“A vehicle belonging to the Egyptian Committee was targeted during a humanitarian mission, resulting in the martyrdom of three individuals,” said Mohammed Mansour, a spokesman for the Egyptian Relief Committee in the Gaza Strip, adding that all vehicles belonging to the group “bear the committee’s logo”.
“The Israeli army criminally targeted this vehicle” when the individuals were filming the Netzarim camp, Mansour said.
AFP footage showed the vehicle charred, with mangled remains lying in an open area.
Israeli attacks also killed another eight people across Gaza yesterday, including two 13-year-old boys and a 32-year-old woman.
With reporting from AFP
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