Five journalists killed in Israeli army attack in Gaza

Israeli army bombing of Gaza continues unabated. Five journalists were killed in a vehicle attack at night in the Nusserat refugee camp. At the same time, five others were killed in a residential building bombing in northern Gaza city. At least 30 people are reported missing in the latter attack. Doctors say three Palestinian children have died of hypothermia in a displacement camp in southern Gaza.

According to media reports, the vehicle of Al-Quds Today television was parked outside Al-Awda hospital when it was attacked. This Gaza-based television channel is affiliated with the Palestine Islamic Jihad extremist group. Other journalists present at the scene said that Ayman al-Jaadi (Journalist), Faisal Abu al-Kumsan (Reporter), Mohammed al-Lada  (Editor), Ibrahim al-Sheikh Ali (Journalist) and Fadi Hassouna (Editor) were all sleeping in the vehicle when the attack took place.

Footage of the incident captured by CNN showed the vehicle on fire, with the words "TV" and "Press" written in large letters on its rear doors. Another video showed the vehicle completely engulfed in flames. Al-Quds Today television condemned the attack and said the five journalists died "while performing their journalistic and humanitarian duty".

#BREAKING
Israeli aircraft incinerates and kills five journalists in a clearly marked PRESS car outside of Al Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat refugee camp.

Fadi Hassouna
Ibrahim Al-Sheikh Ali
Mohammed Al-Ladah
Faisal Abu Al-Qumsan
Ayman Al-Jadi pic.twitter.com/01bfTBXdFb

— Samira Mohyeddin سمیرا (@SMohyeddin) December 26, 2024

According to Al-Awda Hospital, which treated the casualties, Ahmad al-Lawha, 39, and four others were killed in the attack that targeted an office of the Civil Protection Service in the Nuseirat Camp area of ​​central Gaza.

Al Jazeera condemned the attack, saying al-Lawha was "brutally killed" while he was covering a civil protection effort to rescue a family that had been seriously injured in an earlier bombing.

Mohammed al Sawali, who worked for CNN in Gaza, said al-Lauh was well-known among journalists in Gaza and was often involved with the Civil Defence as a journalist, covering rescue missions.

The Israeli military confirmed it targeted the Civil Defence offices in a “precision strike”, claiming the site was being used by Hamas as a “command-and-control centre” and alleging that al-Lauh was a “terrorist” who had previously worked with Islamic Jihad. The IDF provided no evidence for its allegations. The Israeli army also intensified its assault on the Tulkarem refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, sending reinforcements there a day after killing eight people there. The victims included two women and a teenager.