Five journalists have been killed since the beginning of 2026 in Israeli attacks targeting media workers in the Gaza Strip and Lebanon, according to the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA).
In a statement released Saturday, MADA highlighted what it described as the targeted killing of journalist Mohammed Samir Washah, 39, a correspondent for Al Jazeera Mubasher, in Gaza City.
According to the center, an Israeli warplane struck a civilian Hyundai Tucson carrying Washah on Wednesday, April 8, as it traveled along Al-Rashid Street near the Kuwaiti Roundabout in the Sheikh Ajleen area, west of Gaza City.
He was killed instantly in what MADA described as a direct attack. Another individual was also reported killed in the same strike.
MADA noted that the vehicle bore clear press markings at the time it was targeted, raising serious concerns about the deliberate nature of the attack.
The organization stressed that targeting journalists while they are performing their professional duties constitutes a grave violation of international humanitarian law and amounts to a crime that warrants accountability.
The center further warned of a growing pattern of systematic violations against journalists across the Palestinian territories and the wider region, aimed at suppressing coverage and preventing the transmission of accurate information from the ground.
Last week, two additional female journalists were killed in Lebanon amid continued Israeli attacks, according to MADA, underscoring what it described as a broader escalation against media workers beyond Gaza.
MADA called on the international community and organizations concerned with press freedom to take urgent action to halt these violations, ensure protection for journalists, and hold those responsible accountable to prevent impunity.
The organization also reaffirmed the necessity of upholding the protections afforded to journalists under international law, emphasizing their status as civilians and their right to carry out their work freely and safely.
In a separate report, MADA documented 32 violations against media freedoms during March alone, the majority occurring in the West Bank. The Israeli occupation was responsible for 31 of those incidents, the center said.
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