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Five journalists inside a television broadcasting van were killed in an Israeli strike in central Gaza on Thursday, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported, marking an escalation after the breakdown of recent efforts to secure a ceasefire agreement.
The journalists from Al Quds Al Youm television are Faisal Abu Al Qumsan, Ayman Al Jadi, Mohammad Al Lad'a, Fadi Hassouna and Ibrahim Al Sheikh Ali. Despite the broadcasting van marked with "press" in red, the Israeli army claimed it attacked a "terrorist cell" and conducted "precise" strikes in the area of Nuseirat where the journalists were killed.
At least 190 journalists have been killed since Israel's war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023, following the Hamas attacks on southern Israel. More than 45,000 people have been killed in the Palestinian enclave.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate condemned the strike, accusing Israel of carrying out the attacking media professionals deliberately, in an attempt to "obscure the truth" and "tighten the noose on freedom of expression".
Journalists are a protected class of civilians under international humanitarian law and an attacks on them constitutes a war crime.
"This continuing targeting is a war crime according to international conventions and constitutes a flagrant violation of human rights and freedom of the press," the syndicate said in a statement. "The Palestinian press will continue to carry out its message with determination and resolve, despite the occupation's continuous attempts to stop or threaten it."
After reports suggested a ceasefire to end the devastating war in Gaza and free Israeli hostages was within reach, hopes were dashed as negotiations appeared deadlocked, sources told The National.
Negotiations have been suspended in the Egypt and Qatar after mediators failed to narrow the gaps between Israel and Hamas over key issues. They include the list of Palestinian detainees the militant group wants to be freed from Israeli jails, in exchange for the release of hostages seized from Israel last year, the sources said.
Another stumbling block was Israel's reluctance to commit to a timetable for withdrawal from the narrow strip on the Palestinian side of the Egypt-Gaza border and Hamas's insistence on a guarantee from the US, Qatari and Egyptian mediators that negotiations on a permanent ceasefire and full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza would continue after the hostage-detainee swap was completed.
Israel escalated its attacks in Gaza after the breakdown of negotiations. In the north, it detonated explosives carried by robots outside of the Kamal Adwan and Indonesian hospitals, both of which have been nearly completely emptied of doctors and patients. The army issued eviction orders for patients, claiming to be targeting militants' infrastructure, but doctors said the orders were "impossible" to fulfil with no means of transport and a brutal siege under way.
On Thursday, at least 10 people were killed in Israeli attacks in the northern areas of Al Sabra near Gaza city and Jabalia, Wafa reported, quoting health officials. Eight people, including children, were killed in a single attack on a residential building.
Medical sources said at least 10 per cent of Gaza's entire population of 2.1 million are either killed, injured or missing as a result of Israel's war on the enclave.
The US, Egypt and Qatar have been trying for more than a year to end the 14-month Gaza war and secure the release of the hostages. The only truce they successfully negotiated was for about a week in November last year, when Hamas released about 100 Israeli and other hostages.
Hamas took about 250 hostages when it attacked southern Israel in October last year, killing about 1,200 people and causing a devastating military response by Israel. Its military believes Hamas is still holding about 100 Israeli and other hostages, with about 40 having died in captivity. Hamas has never publicly said how many hostages it is holding or given information on their condition.
