DUBAI: A Palestinian correspondent for Al Jazeera Mubasher was killed in an Israeli drone strike in Gaza on Wednesday.
Mohammed Wishah was driving along a main road in the Sheikh Ajlin area, west of Gaza City, when his vehicle was hit, the Palestinian news agency Wafa said.
Videos circulating on social media showed the vehicle engulfed in flames. The footage has not been verified by Arab News.
The Government Media Office of Gaza condemned the killing and called on the international community and press freedom organizations to hold Israel accountable for its crimes against journalists and pursue its violations through international courts.
The Qatar-based broadcaster said in a statement that it strongly condemned “the heinous crime of targeting and killing” of its correspondent, adding that the incident was “not a random act but a deliberate and targeted crime intended to intimidate journalists" and it “holds Israeli occupation forces fully responsible”.
Media rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) echoed the condemnation, saying Wishah’s name joined “those of the more than 220 journalists killed in two and a half years by the Israeli forces in Gaza, at least 70 of whom were killed in the context of performing their duties”.
The Israeli military on Thursday said its forces had a day earlier “struck and eliminated” Wishah, whom it described as “a key terrorist in Hamas’ rocket and weapons production headquarters, who had been planning terrorist attacks against IDF soldiers operating in the area”.
It said Wishah had “operated under the guise of an Al Jazeera journalist, exploiting this identity in order to advance terrorist activities against IDF forces and the State of Israel”.
Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas militants of disguising themselves as journalists — claims that press freedom organisations have consistently said are made without verifiable evidence.
The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate said 260 journalists have been killed and 550 others injured since the start of the war in October 2023. A further 39 journalists remain in detention and 150 media institutions have been destroyed.
