Gaza, March 24 — At least 61 Palestinians, including two journalists, were killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, according to local reports.
Al Jazeera journalist Hossam Shabat was killed in northern Gaza on Monday when his vehicle was struck in Beit Lahiya’s eastern area, witnesses told the network. Earlier, Israeli forces killed Mohammad Mansour, a journalist with Palestine Today, during a strike in Khan Younis, southern Gaza.
At least 208 journalists have been killed in Israeli attacks since October 2023.
The government media office condemned the killings, describing them as "targeting, killing, and assassination of Palestinian journalists by the Israeli occupation."
In a statement, the office called on global media organizations, including the International Federation of Journalists and the Arab Journalists Union, to denounce what it described as systematic crimes against Palestinian media professionals. It also accused the US, UK, Germany, and France of being complicit in the violence.
Jodie Ginsberg, chief executive of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), condemned Shabat’s killing, describing it as part of a broader pattern. "That’s a pattern that we have seen repeatedly both in the current war and in previous ones as well," she said.
Ginsberg revealed that CPJ had previously interviewed Shabat for its coverage on the growing news void in northern Gaza.
She noted that Israel had accused Shabat and five other Al Jazeera journalists of being "militants."
"He appears to have been deliberately targeted on a direct hit on his vehicle," she said. "The deliberate and targeted killing of a journalist, of a civilian, is a war crime."
Ginsberg added that CPJ is investigating several incidents where Israeli forces allegedly targeted journalists despite knowing they were media workers. "That would amount to a war crime. Journalists and civilians must never be targeted," she said.