Dozens of Palestinians on Thursday morning attended the funeral of Al Jazeera Mubasher correspondent Mohammed Washah, who was killed yesterday after an Israeli drone-fired missile targeted his car.
The Israeli occupation army targeted Wahash’s car on Al-Rashid Road, southwest of Gaza City, with two missiles fired from a reconnaissance drone.
One missile struck the car as it was driving along the road, setting it ablaze, an eyewitness told Al Manassa. The vehicle was then targeted again with a second missile after a number of civilians had gathered around it and before ambulance and civil defense crews arrived.
The eyewitness, who requested anonymity for security reasons, added that the double strike completely burned the car and killed Washah instantly inside.
Around 20 people were injured with shrapnel in the second strike and were transferred to Al-Shifa Hospital for treatment, a source in the emergency services told Al Manassa, also asking not to be named.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate condemned Washah’s killing, describing it as a “full-fledged Israeli crime,” and said it falls within a systematic targeting of journalists aimed at obscuring the truth and silencing the Palestinian narrative.
Washah’s death brings the number of journalists killed since Oct. 7, 2023, to 262, according to the syndicate which noted that such attacks are intended to intimidate media workers and force them into silence regarding ongoing Israeli violations, despite a ceasefire agreement reached in October 2025.
The syndicate held Israel fully responsible for the incident, calling for an immediate and transparent international investigation, urgent protection for journalists, and accountability for those responsible for violations.
Israeli army spokesperson Avichay Adraee claimed Wahash was not a journalist but rather a “Hamas terrorist in every sense of the word,” he posted on his X account Wednesday.
In a previous post published in February 2024, Adraee had alleged that the Israeli army found a laptop belonging to Washah during military operations, claiming he “held a position within Hamas’s anti-tank missile system before moving into research and development within what he described as the group’s ‘air force,’” without providing independently verifiable evidence.
Washah was from Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. Born in 1986, he had a career spanning nearly two decades, during which he covered wars and Israeli attacks since the later years of the Second Palestinian Intifada.
In recent years, he became known through his reporting for Al Jazeera Mubasher, particularly for covering the impact of the ongoing war, especially displacement, famine, and the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
The killing comes amid continued Israeli strikes on Gaza and escalation across the Palestinian territories.
Meanwhile, Israel’s security cabinet has approved the establishment of 34 new settlements in the West Bank, Israeli media reported Thursday.
Gaza has been named the deadliest place in the world for journalists, according to Reporters Without Borders.
Israel has repeatedly targeted journalists in Gaza and Lebanon. Female journalists Ghada Al-Daikh and Suzanne Khalil were killed Wednesday in heavy Israeli strikes on Lebanon. On March 28, an Israeli airstrike killed three journalists, Ali Shoeib, Fatima Ftouni and Mohammed Ftouni in southern Lebanon.
