At least 21 journalists killed in Israel-Hamas war, says CPJ

NEW YORK, US

At least 21 journalists have been killed since the outbreak of the Hamas-Israel war, the majority in Israel’s attacks on Gaza, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

The CPJ reported that, as of this Thursday, 17 Palestinian, three Israeli, and one Lebanese journalist had died since Hamas militants attacked Israel on 7 October, followed by the ongoing bombardments of Gaza by Israel.

“CPJ emphasises that journalists are civilians doing important work during times of crisis and must not be targeted by warring parties,” said Sherif Mansour, the CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa programme coordinator. “Journalists across the region are making great sacrifices to cover this heartbreaking conflict. All parties must take steps to ensure their safety.”

Hamas members killed more than 1,400 Israelis in the attacks on 7 October; and Israel said that now at least 203 people had been taken hostage. Gaza health officials this Thursday said Israeli bombs had killed 3,785 people so far, and wounded more than 12,000.

More journalists have been killed in Gaza during the past two weeks than since 2001 in the territory, Mansour told AP.

Journalists who have died in the territory include Saeed Al-Taweel, editor-in-chief of the Al-Khamsa news website; Mohammed Sobh, a photographer from Khabar news agency; and Hisham Alnwajha, a journalist at Khabar news agency.

The three were killed on 9 October, according to the CPJ, when Israeli warplanes bombed “an area housing several media outlets” in the Rimal district, west Gaza.

A day earlier Assaad Shamlakh, a freelance journalist, was killed along with nine members of his family, in an Israeli airstrike on their home in Sheikh Ijlin a neighbourhood in the southern Gaza Strip, according to the CPJ.

Salam Mema, a freelance journalist who was head of the Women Journalists Committee at the Palestinian Media Assembly, an organisation that advances the work of Palestinian journalists, was confirmed dead on 13 October.

“Her body was recovered from the rubble three days after her home in the Jabalia camp, situated in the northern Gaza Strip, was struck by an Israeli airstrike on 10 October,” the CPJ said.

The other journalists who have been killed include Shai Regev, editor of the entertainment news section of the Hebrew-language newspaper Ma’ariv; Ayelet Arnin, a 22-year-old news editor at Kan, an Israeli state-owned TV channel; and Yaniv Zohar, an Israeli photographer for the Hebrew-language daily newspaper Israel Hayom.

Regev, Arnin and Zohar were killed on 7 October during the Hamas attack on Israel. Israel National News reported that Zohar’s wife and two daughters were also killed.

In Lebanon, Issam Abdallah, a videographer for Reuters, was killed in a shelling attack from the direction of Israel near the Lebanon border.

Eight other journalists have been reported injured in the conflict, the CBJ reported, while three journalists were reported missing or detained.

“CPJ is also investigating numerous unconfirmed reports of other journalists being killed, missing, detained, hurt or threatened, and of damage to media offices and journalists’ homes,” the organisation said.