Two Al Jazeera correspondents, Ismail Al-Ghoul and Rami Al-Rifi, were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Al-Shati refugee camp, northern Gaza, on Wednesday 31 July.
In a statement, the news network condemned the incident as a “targeted assassination” and part of a “systematic targeting campaign” against its journalists since October 2023.
Al-Ghoul, 27, and his cameraman Al-Rifi were killed when their car was struck by a missile. The two had been reporting live from a location close to the family home of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed, reportedly by Israel, in Tehran earlier that day.
The journalists were wearing press flak vests at the time of the attack. Graphic images released on social media show Al-Ghoul’s lifeless, decapitated body in the wreckage of his vehicle following the Israeli missile strike.
Khader Al-Za’anoun, a journalist from the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, recalled his friendship with Al-Ghoulto CBS news, saying, “It’s a difficult and painful feeling to cover this horrific story; he’s my friend and colleague, and we’re together in the field most of the time during this war.”
In the aftermath of the attack, Al Jazeera reporters Yousef Al Saudi and Anas Al Sharif were seen breaking down as they held Al-Ghoul’s bloodied flak jacket, with Al Saudi saying to CBS news, “The sign was covered by blood to silence the world and the images in Gaza. The pictures continue and the coverage continues, God willing.”
Another journalist, Wadi Shehandeh, according to CNN, addressed a crowd, saying, “By targeting us as media professionals, they want this coverage to stop, and to silence us. But no, by God, if only one of the media professionals remained in northern Gaza, they will continue to share the images.” He added, “Ismail is not dead. Ismail lives in our hearts. His message will continue.”
The killing of the two Al Jazeera journalists has sparked outrage and condemnation from advocacy groups, with the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) calling for Israel to explain the attack, which it said “appears to be a direct strike.”
The International Federation of Journalists also condemned the strike, saying, “We are running out of words to condemn this massacre. Israel must stop killing journalists.”
The period since the start of the war on Gaza has been the deadliest for journalists since the CPJ began gathering data in 1992.
According to the CPJ, at least 112 journalists or media workers, the vast majority of whom are Palestinian, have been killed since the conflict began.
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