Israeli air raid kills Palestinian journalist and family in Gaza
An Israeli air raid has killed a journalist working for the Palestinian Authority’s television channel, as well as 10 family members, according to the network.
Palestine TV accused Israel of carrying out a “deliberate assassination” of Mohammed Abu Hatab as it bombed his family home in Gaza’s Khan Younis, in the south of the territory, on Thursday.
“Our colleague Mohammed Abu Hatab fell as a martyr along with members of his family in an Israeli bombardment against his home in Khan Younis,” the TV station said in a statement carried by the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Sources at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis said at least 11 people were killed in the strike.
The statement said an air strike hit Abu Hatab’s apartment shortly after his arrival.
It asserted that the attack “is a bloody message to terrorise Palestinian journalists,” intended to stop them from “conveying the suffering of the Palestinian people and exposing the crimes of the occupation”.
The channel said it would continue to carry out its duty “no matter how great the sacrifices are and no matter how many crimes the occupying state commits against our journalists”.
Dozens of journalists killed
The Palestinian journalists’ union says that 27 of its members have been killed in Gaza since October 7.
Local and international media representatives in Gaza used to work from offices in Gaza City. However, intense Israeli bombardments, which destroyed many buildings, have forced news organisations to send their teams to the south of the enclave, even as Israeli air strikes hit targets across the entire territory.
The conflict raged for a 28th day on Friday after the October 7 attacks when Hamas fighters stormed the border, killing 1,400 people and taking more than 240 people as captives, Israeli officials say.Since then, Israel has relentlessly pounded the Palestinian territory and sent in ground troops, with Gaza’s health ministry saying 9,061 people have been killed, including 3,760 children.
