The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said that the journalists “were carrying out a humanitarian, journalistic mission to film and document the suffering of civilians”
At least 11 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces on Wednesday, including two 13-year-old boys and three journalists, in what became the latest ceasefire violation.
Health officials in Gaza said that the three journalists were killed as they were travelling by car to the newly established displacement camp in the Netzarim for work. The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said that the journalists “were carrying out a humanitarian, journalistic mission to film and document the suffering of civilians”.
Meanwhile, two boys aged 13 were killed in a different incident on the same day. According to hospital officials in Deir al-Balah, an Israeli drone strike on the eastern edge of the Bureij refugee camp killed a father, his young son, and a 22-year-old man. In the second incident in Bani Suheila, Nasser hospital reported that 13-year-old Moatsem al-Sharafy was shot and killed by Israeli troops while he was out gathering firewood.
The three journalists who were killed have been identified as Mohammed Salah Qashta, Abdul Raouf Shaat and Anas Ghneim. Shaat was a contributor to Agence France-Presse as a photo and video journalist; however, the agency said that he was not on assignment when the strikes occurred.
In a statement, AFP said it was mourning the loss of Shaat, who would be remembered as a “kind-hearted colleague, with a gentle sense of humour, and as a deeply committed journalist”.
“AFP demands a full and transparent investigation into his death,” it 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,” the agency added.
The Israeli military has said that it ordered the strikes after its soldiers “identified several suspects who operated a drone affiliated with Hamas” in central Gaza.
“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 in a statement.
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