Five employees of Al Jazeera were killed as a result of an Israeli airstrike near Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. This was reported by Zamin.uz.
The channel issued an official statement regarding this incident. It was stated that the journalists were hit while they were in a tent set up near the main entrance of the hospital.
Al Jazeera described this attack as a planned threat to freedom of speech. According to the channel's editor-in-chief Muhammad Moavvad, one of the deceased, Anas al-Sharif, was considered the only voice conveying the events in Gaza to the world.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) accused al-Sharif of being a "leader of the Hamas terrorist group" after the strike, but did not comment on the deaths of the other journalists. According to Al Jazeera, a total of seven people were killed in the attack, initially reporting four fatalities, which was later increased to five.
International organizations and groups protecting journalists had previously warned about the dangerous conditions for information workers in Gaza and that their lives were under threat. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least 186 journalists have been killed as a result of Israel's military operations since October.
Ensuring press freedom and the safety of journalists remains a pressing issue
