The Israeli military struck and killed three journalists Wednesday as they traveled in their car south of Gaza City, rescue officials and local reporters said, the latest in a series of attacks Israel has launched in the enclave despite a U.S-backed ceasefire that began in October.
More than 460 people, including over 100 children, have been killed by Israeli fire since the ceasefire went into effect, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The journalists were among 11 Palestinians killed Wednesday by the Israeli military, the ministry said.
Mohamed Qishta, Anas Ghneim and Abdel Raouf Shaat, a freelance cameraman who was a contributor both to CBS News and the French news agency Agence France-Presse, were on assignment Wednesday for the media arm of a relief committee run by the Egyptian government, according to Mohamed Mansour, a committee spokesman.
The three reporters were recording footage of a tent encampment for displaced people in al-Zahra, Mansour said, and were killed about a mile away after leaving the camp, according to medics and journalists who were on the scene.
The Israel Defense Forces said in a statement that its troops had identified “several suspects who operated a drone affiliated with Hamas in the central Gaza Strip, in a manner that posed a threat to their safety.”
“Following the identification and due to the threat that the drone posed to the troops, the IDF precisely struck the suspects who activated the drone,” the IDF said.
The military did not respond when asked further questions about the strike, including how they knew the drone was “affiliated with Hamas” and whether they had identified the targets as journalists, who are protected under international humanitarian law.
It was not immediately clear whether the journalists had used a drone or quadcopter for aerial shots of the encampment Wednesday. Mansour said the team was recording footage on their phones but had used a drone to capture images of another tent camp set up by the committee last week.
Israeli forces have killed at least 220 journalists in Gaza since the war began in October 2023, according to Reporters Without Borders, a press freedom watchdog. Israel also has banned international journalists from entering Gaza, with the exception of brief, highly restricted embeds with the IDF, leaving the Palestinian territory’s dwindling press corps to shoulder the load of covering the war.
“We are in mourning for the loss of our colleague Abdul Raouf Shaat who was a regular contributor to AFP’s production for nearly two years,” AFP said in a statement Wednesday, adding that he was “much loved” by the agency’s team covering Gaza. “They remember him as a kind-hearted colleague, with a gentle sense of humor and as a deeply committed journalist.”
“AFP demands a full and transparent investigation into his death,” the agency said. “Far too many local journalists have been killed in Gaza over the past two years while foreign journalists remain unable to enter the territory freely.”
Tom Cibrowski, CBS News’s president and executive editor, also told staff in a morning meeting that Shaat had been killed, according to multiple people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share nonpublic comments. Cibrowski mentioned that the Palestinian cameraman had just been married a few weeks earlier.
Location data from the phone of Mo’tasem Quraan, a local videographer who arrived at the scene about an hour after the strike, placed the targeted car more than a mile west of Israel’s “Yellow Line,” a boundary dividing Gaza roughly in half, with Israeli soldiers in control of the east.
A paramedic who also attended the scene, and who spoke on the condition of anonymity out of fear for his safety, confirmed the location provided by Quraan and said three bodies were found in the car. Mansour said the vehicle was clearly marked with an Egyptian flag, which identified it as belonging to the committee.
Videos of the aftermath that were shared online showed the shell of a destroyed car with smoke streaming out of it. Quraan said the remains were charred and that some body parts were found outside of the vehicle. Later, footage showed colleagues weeping over the body of one of the slain journalists.
Just a week ago, Shaat was celebrating his marriage, posting side-by-side images of himself in a suit and in a “PRESS” vest on his Instagram account.
“We don’t have much time for joy,” he wrote, but “thank god, who allowed us to have our wedding party.”
“Today, I return once again to my work and national duty in the field of journalism,” he said. “Our celebrations may be postponed, but our mission cannot be.”
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