A Palestinian journalist was killed late Wednesday when an Israeli drone strike targeted an area near Al-Shifa Hospital in western Gaza City, further escalating the deadly toll on media workers during Israel's near-two-year war on the besieged enclave.
Mohammed Al-Sawalhi, a cameraman for Al-Quds Al-Youm channel, was among 13 people killed in the attack. Eleven others were injured, according to a journalist at the scene who spoke to Al Manassa. Al-Sawalhi had been walking near his workplace when the strike hit.
Eyewitnesses said Israeli occupation forces opened fire on civilians attempting to flee south, following evacuation orders issued under the threat of intensified bombardment.
The Gaza Government Media Office condemned the killing, accusing Israel of committing systematic war crimes against journalists across the Gaza Strip. In a statement posted to Telegram, the office said Al-Sawalhi's death raised the number of journalists killed since the war began to 252, many of whom were deliberately targeted in their tents or while reporting on the ground.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate labeled Al-Sawalhi's killing an “assassination crime,” framing it as part of a broader campaign to crush press freedom and eliminate witnesses to Israel's atrocities. The union reiterated that Israel’s attacks on the press aim to silence the truth and erase documentation of war crimes against Palestinians.
It stressed that repeated targeting of journalists represents a blatant violation of international humanitarian law, including conventions that are supposed to protect journalists in conflict zones.
The syndicate also denounced the international community’s “deafening silence” and dependence on performative condemnation, warning that such passivity enables Israel to continue its crimes with impunity.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israel’s offensive on Gaza has killed nearly 65,000 Palestinians and injured more than 164,000 others, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The occupation has adopted a policy of starvation by blocking the entry of aid, leading to the deaths of 413 people, including 143 children, from starvation.
On Tuesday, an independent UN inquiry released its report, concluding for the first time that Israel has committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.
The UN Human Rights Council’s commission detailed that since the conflict escalated on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has carried out four of the five genocidal acts defined under international law: killing Palestinians, causing serious harm, deliberately inflicting destructive living conditions, and preventing births. “The Commission concludes that Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, have incited the commission of genocide,” the report asserted.
