Five Palestinian journalists killed in Israeli strike on vehicle in Gaza, employer says
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Men were asleep in marked broadcast lorry, say witnesses, as renewed hostage negotiations reach impasse. Five Palestinian journalists have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on their vehicle in central Gaza, their employer has said, as renewed ceasefire negotiations between Hamas and Israel have reportedly reached an impasse.
Faisal Abu al-Qumsan, Ayman al-Jadi, Ibrahim al-Sheikh Khalil, Fadi Hassouna and Mohammed al-Lada’a were sleeping in their broadcasting truck, marked as press, when it was targeted in a direct strike by the Israeli military, witnesses told Palestinian media. Another 16 people were killed in other Israeli pre-dawn strikes across the territory, the local health ministry said.
The five men, who worked at Al-Quds Today, a television channel affiliated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a smaller militant group that fights alongside Hamas, were buried on Thursday morning. Israel’s military said in a statement it had conducted “a precise strike on a vehicle with an Islamic Jihad terrorist cell inside in the area of Nuseirat”, adding: “Prior to the strike, numerous steps were taken to mitigate the risk of harming civilians.”.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said 195 journalists have been killed, including those who died in this incident, and at least 400 havve been injured since the war in Gaza began in October 2023, when Hamas launched its attack on Israel. The Israel Defense Forces denies targeting media workers. However, a Guardian investigation found that amid a loosening of the IDF’s interpretation of the laws of war in the conflict, some in the military appear to have viewed journalists working in the territory for outlets controlled by or affiliated with Palestinian militant groups to be legitimate military targets.
