Gaza authorities said an Israeli airstrike killed five Palestinian journalists outside a hospital on Thursday, but the Israeli army said it attacked a vehicle carrying Islamic Jihad fighters.
Medics said five of them were among at least 21 people killed in pre-dawn Israeli airstrikes on the Palestinian enclave, as Hamas and Israel blamed delays in reaching a ceasefire agreement after more than 14 months of fighting.
The Palestinian Journalists' Union said a single strike killed five Al-Quds Today journalists who were in a broadcast vehicle outside Al-Awda Hospital in the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.
The association said that more than 190 Palestinian journalists have been killed in Israeli fire since the war began in October 2023.
The Gaza-based channel called the strike a massacre and in a statement on the Telegram messaging app said the five “were killed while carrying out their media and humanitarian duties.”
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it “conducted a precision attack on a vehicle carrying an Islamic Jihad terrorist cell in the Nuseirat area.”
Israel regularly denies targeting journalists and says it takes steps to avoid attacks on civilians.
The Iranian-backed Islamic Jihad group, a Hamas ally, has fought several rounds against Israel over the past two decades, and the group's fighters have joined the fight against Israel since October 2023. It has stated that it is also holding hostages.
According to health officials in the Hamas-controlled enclave, more than 45,300 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's campaign against Hamas in Gaza. Most of the population of 2.3 million have been displaced and much of the Gaza Strip is in ruins.
According to Israeli data, the war was sparked by a Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 people and took 251 hostages in Gaza.
According to doctors, the death toll may increase
Video footage from the scene of Thursday's attack shows the twisted wreckage of a white van, with remnants of the word “PRESS” written in red on the back door.
Later on Thursday, dozens of journalists' relatives and colleagues attended the funerals of five journalists whose bodies were wrapped in white shrouds. Blue bulletproof vests with the word “PRESS” were placed on the shrouded bodies.
“The Israeli army justifies or justifies this attack by claiming that it targets people associated with Palestinian organizations and cells. However, on site, these people performed journalistic tasks, stayed in press vehicles and reported on the events,” said Abed Meqdad, a journalist corresponding to Al-Araby TV channel during the funerals.
Women wept next to the bodies while men offered special prayers before burial.
“May God take vengeance on them, may God take vengeance on them. He is the one who spreads the news and spreads the crimes around the world. This is what they are doing to them,” said the mother of Fadi Hassouna, one of the killed journalists.
Medics in the enclave said eight other people were killed and 20 wounded in an Israeli airstrike on a house in the Zeitoun district of Gaza City. They added that the death toll could rise as many people were trapped under the rubble.
Medics say eight more people were killed in an Israeli attack on a house in the Gaza suburb of Sabra, bringing Thursday's death toll to 21.
Israel and Hamas blame the delayed ceasefire
On Wednesday, Hamas and Israel blamed each other for failing to reach a ceasefire agreement despite progress reported by both sides in recent days.
Hamas said Israel had set further conditions, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the group of backing away from agreements already reached.
“The occupation established new conditions regarding withdrawal, ceasefire, prisoners and the return of displaced persons, which delayed reaching an available agreement,” Hamas said.
Netanyahu responded in a statement: “The Hamas terrorist organization continues to lie, withdraw from agreements already reached and continue to create difficulties in negotiations.”