Three Palestinian journalists tragically lost their lives in an Israeli airstrike targeting a United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) school in the Al-Shati refugee camp in western Gaza on Sunday, October 22, 2023.
This attack raised the total number of journalists killed since the onset of the war to 180.
Medical and media sources confirmed that the strike hit the “Asma” school, which was housing displaced families. Among the victims were Hamza Youssef Abu Salmia, a prominent editor, Sayed Ridwan, the head of the media department at Al-Aqsa Channel.
Among the victims was journalist Haneen Baroud, a journalist with Al-Quds Foundation. Baroud, who had lost her four brothers in the strike, leaves behind a grieving family, including her father, who remains missing.
In a statement, the Government Media Office condemned the attack in the strongest terms, holding the Israeli forces entirely responsible for this heinous crime against Palestinian journalists.
The Palestinian Journalists Protection Center (PJPC) also expressed outrage, calling the targeting of journalists one of the most egregious ongoing crimes over the past year.
They highlighted that the continued violence against reporters in Gaza stems from high-level decisions within the Israeli government aimed at obscuring the truth and preventing the documentation of atrocities against civilians.
The PJPC pointed out that the assault on journalists in Gaza represents one of the deadliest in modern history, surpassing the number of journalists killed during World War II.
In addition to the journalists, ten others were reported killed, with five transported to Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza. Search efforts for the bodies of additional victims from the attack on the Asma school, which shelters hundreds of displaced individuals, are ongoing.
Sayed Ridwan was a co-founder of Al-Aqsa Channel and a well-respected digital media expert. Haneen Baroud was known for her activism in documenting issues related to Jerusalem, while Hamza Abu Salmia was a prominent media activist.
Over the course of the year marked by devastation in Gaza, the Government Media Office has reported that the Israeli forces have bombed 187 shelters, resulting in the deaths of more than 1,060 individuals within those facilities.
As the Israeli occupation intensifies its bombing, destruction, and targeting across the Gaza Strip—particularly in the northern regions—the genocide, which has raged since October 7, 2023, reaches its 387th day, leaving a trail of grief and loss for countless families.
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