DayofPal– Palestinian journalist Hilmi Al-Faqaawi, a correspondent for Palestine Today News Agency, was killed early Monday in an Israeli airstrike that targeted a journalists’ tent near Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
Several other journalists were wounded, with some injuries described as critical. According to a statement by the Government Media Office in Gaza, nine journalists were in and around the targeted area at the time of the strike.
The attack, which took place during the ongoing genocidal war on Gaza, raised the number of journalists killed since October 7, 2023, to 210.
Those wounded include: Hassan Aslayeh, Ahmad Mansour, Ahmad Al-Agha, Mohammad Fayek, Abdullah Al-Attar, Ihab Al-Bardini, Mahmoud Awad, Majed Qudeih, and Ali Aslayeh.
Video footage from the scene showed the horrifying moment journalist Ahmad Mansour was engulfed in flames after the tent was hit by Israeli warplanes. Mansour sustained severe burns and is among those critically wounded.
Photojournalist Abdul Majid Khater was photographed risking his life to save his fellow journalist Ahmad Mansour after his body was engulfed in fire.
The Government Media Office condemned the repeated targeting and deliberate assassination of Palestinian journalists, calling on the International Federation of Journalists, the Arab Journalists Union, and all media bodies around the world to publicly denounce the systematic crimes against journalists in Gaza.
The statement placed full responsibility on the Israeli occupation, as well as the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and other governments supporting the ongoing assault.
It urged the international community, press freedom organizations, and human rights bodies to take decisive action to hold Israel accountable before international courts, pressure for an immediate halt to the genocide, and enforce protections for journalists and media personnel in Gaza.
The Palestinian Media Assembly also condemned the brutal attack, calling it a targeted and deliberate strike on media workers, a clear war crime.
It mourned the loss of Al-Faqaawi and demanded urgent international intervention to protect Palestinian journalists and uphold their right to report under the protection of international humanitarian law.
At least 57 people have been killed in Gaza in the past 24 hours and 137 injured, Gaza’s Government Media Office has said in its latest update.
Since Israel resumed attacks on Gaza on March 18, the death toll has reached 1,391, while 3,434 were injured.
The overall number of casualties since October 7, 2023 now stands at 50,752 killed and 115,475 injured.
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