AP freelancer amongst 4 journalists killed in Israeli strikes, Gaza officers say

[ad_1] DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli strikes on a hospital in southern Gaza killed 4 journalists Monday, together with a freelancer who labored for The Related Press, in response to well being officers.

Mariam Dagga, 33, a visible journalist, freelanced for the AP throughout the warfare, in addition to different information shops. The AP mentioned in a press release that it was shocked and saddened to study of Dagga’s demise, together with these of different journalists.

Two missiles hit Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, medical officers mentioned. In all, 19 individuals have been killed, in response to Zaher al-Waheidi, head of the Gaza Well being Ministry’s information division.

The Israel-Hamas warfare has been one of many bloodiest conflicts for media employees, with at the very least 192 journalists killed in Gaza within the 22-month battle, in response to the Committee to Shield Journalists. Comparatively, 18 journalists have been killed up to now in Russia’s warfare in Ukraine, in response to the CPJ.

Dagga, who has a 12-year-old son who was evacuated from Gaza earlier within the warfare, regularly based mostly herself at Nasser, most not too long ago reporting on the hospital’s doctors struggling to save lots of youngsters from hunger. Unbiased Arabia, the Arabic language model of the British Unbiased, mentioned Dagga additionally labored with the group.

“We're doing every little thing we are able to to maintain our journalists in Gaza protected as they proceed to offer essential eyewitness reporting in tough and harmful circumstances,” the AP mentioned.

Al Jazeera confirmed that its journalist Mohammed Salam was additionally amongst those that have been killed within the Nasser strike. Reuters reported that its contractor cameraman Hussam al-Masri was killed and its contractor photographer Hatem Khaled wounded. It was not instantly clear who the fourth journalist killed was.

The Israeli army mentioned its troops carried out a strike within the space of Nasser Hospital and that it could conduct an investigation into the incident. The army mentioned it “regrets any hurt to uninvolved people and doesn't goal journalists as such.”

Thibaut Bruttin, the director basic of Reporters With out Borders, mentioned press freedom advocates had by no means seen such a extreme step backward for reporters’ security. He famous that journalists have been killed each in indiscriminate strikes and in focused assaults that Israel’s army has acknowledged finishing up.

“They're doing every little thing they will to silence impartial voices which can be attempting to report on Gaza,” Bruttin mentioned.

In some circumstances, comparable to with Al Jazeera correspondent Anas al-Sharif, who was targeted and killed by Israel earlier this month, Israel has accused journalists in Gaza of being a part of militant teams. Israel’s army asserted that al-Sharif had led a Hamas cell — an allegation that Al Jazeera and al-Sharif beforehand dismissed as baseless.

Except for uncommon guided excursions, Israel has barred worldwide media from protecting the warfare. Information organizations as a substitute rely largely on Palestinian journalists in Gaza — in addition to residents — to indicate the world what is going on there. Israel usually questions the affiliations and biases of Palestinian journalists however doesn’t allow others in.

Most of the journalists working in Gaza are dealing with the same struggles to find food , for themselves and their households, because the individuals they're protecting.

In one among Dagga’s final social media posts on Sunday, she printed a selfie of herself.

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Lidman reported from Jerusalem. Related Press writers Samy Magdy contributed from Cairo and Sam Metz from Jerusalem.

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