Israel claims that it did not kill journalists but militants

Authorities in Gaza announced that yesterday an Israeli air strike killed five Palestinian journalists in a vehicle in front of a hospital, while the Israeli army claims that the victims were Islamic Jihad militants posing as media workers.

Medical workers said the five were among at least 31 people killed in Israeli airstrikes across the Palestinian enclave before dawn, as Hamas and Israel blamed each other for delays in reaching a ceasefire agreement after more than 14 months of fighting.

The Palestinian Journalists Union announced that the attack killed five Al-Quds channel journalists who were in a broadcast vehicle in front of Al-Awda Hospital in the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza. The Union stated that more than 190 Palestinian journalists have been killed by Israeli fire since the start of the war in October 2023.

The Gaza-based channel called the attack a massacre and stated in a statement on Telegram that five journalists "were killed while performing their media and humanitarian duties." The channel regularly broadcasts the statements of the leaders of the Islamic Jihad and provides daily coverage of the war in Gaza, the Reuters agency points out.

The Israeli army announced that it "carried out a precise attack on a vehicle containing a terrorist cell of Islamic Jihad in the Nuseirat area." It later issued a statement naming five members of the TV crew, claiming: "Intelligence from multiple sources confirmed that these individuals were Islamic Jihad operatives posing as journalists."

Israel regularly denies targeting journalists and claims it takes steps to avoid harming civilians.

On the video from the scene of the attack, they can see the remains of a white van with traces of the word "PRESS" in red on the back door.

Later yesterday, dozens of journalists' relatives and colleagues took part in the journalist's funeral, whose bodies were wrapped in white shrouds. Blue bulletproof vests with the inscription "PRESS" are placed on top of the covered bodies.

In its year-end report, Reporters Without Borders stated that Gaza is the most dangerous region in the world for journalists due to killings by the Israeli military.