Warning: This story contains an image of dead bodies, one which is covered by a bloodied shroud.
Two NGO vehicles snaked their way across northern Gaza’s devastated landscape last week, reaching an open area not far from the Mediterranean Sea. A cameraman sent up a drone to record a nearby refugee camp.
Moments later, an Israeli air strike targeted the car, eyewitnesses said, leaving it a twisted metal wreckage.
Three freelance photojournalists are dead, the latest in a long list of Palestinian reporters who have been killed in Israel’s war in Gaza.
The Committee to Protect Journalists calls the territory “the deadliest place for journalists in recent history,” deadlier than “any other conflict, anywhere else in the world,” said the group’s Jodie Ginsberg.
In a statement to the media on the recent deaths, the Israeli military said it had identified individuals posing a threat to its troops. They were operating “a drone affiliated with Hamas,” it said, offering no proof of links to the militant group.
‘We are facing real risks here’
The funeral for the three — Mohammed Salah Qashta, 36, Abdul Raouf Sha’at, 34, and Anas Ghneim, 25 — was as emotional as it was familiar for dozens of Palestinian journalists. They’ve walked this procession before, carrying bodies draped in white accompanied by each victim’s bulletproof vest, marked “PRESS.”
With most foreign media kept out of Gaza by Israel, local freelancers have borne the brunt of it. Many work for international media organizations, including CBC News.
“We are facing real risks here, and they come at us without warning,” said reporter Ahmed al-Batta.
Shams Shana’a, one of the mourners. echoed. his colleague’s comments.
“As a journalist, I’m afraid to go out and film,” he said. “I’m afraid that the Israelis will target me, too, because they don’t want the world to see their crimes here.”
Despite a ceasefire, Israeli airstrikes are continuing to hit Gaza. Last week, separate strikes killed more than 10 people, including three journalists, according to Palestinian health officials.
220 reporters killed by Israeli fire to date
The three photojournalists were travelling with the Egyptian Relief Committee, brought along to cover the group’s camps for displaced people.
“The Israeli army criminally targeted this vehicle,” said Mohammed Mansour, a spokesman for the relief committee. Both cars, he said, were clearly marked as aid vehicles.
Their family members and colleagues deny they have any connection to Hamas.
Around 220 reporters have been killed by Israeli fire in Gaza since Oct. 7, 2023, according to the international media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF), deaths the European Union calls “completely unacceptable”.
Canada has joined other countries in demanding protection for journalists in Gaza.
The deadliest single attack was a so-called double-tap strike on a hospital in south Gaza last Aug. 25, which killed five journalists.
The Israeli military claims that several journalists it targeted in Gaza had been “terrorists” affiliated with Palestinian militant groups, something their colleagues have denied.
Recent strike ‘could indicate targeting,’ media group says
Reporters are part of the more than 71,400 Palestinians killed in Israel’s military assault on Gaza, according to figures provided by Palestinian officials, triggered by the 2023 Hamas-led attack in southern Israel that killed some 1,200, according to Israeli tallies.
More than 460 Palestinians have died in Gaza since the ceasefire started in October while Israel says three of its soldiers have been killed in that period.
This recent strike on identifiable journalists “could indicate targeting and constitute a war crime,” said Martin Roux, head of RSF’s crisis desk.
Fighting has diminished since a shaky ceasefire went into effect in October, giving Palestinian journalists some more security, but it has not stopped. And Israel continues to control Gaza militarily, conducting regular strikes on targets it says pose a threat.
Slain journalist had just married
A second phase of U.S. President Donald Trump’s peace plan is starting to go into effect, with the opening of the southern Rafah crossing to Egypt set for this week. However, Israel has been reluctant to implement its side of the deal, which would see troops withdraw, until Hamas militants give up their weapons.
Gaza is in limbo, still a land of rubble and tent cities for some two million displaced Palestinians.
An elderly woman sits crying and praying next to one white tent, where Sha’at lived with his wife, Rozan Sha’at, 25, before he was killed in the recent air strike. He had been a photojournalist who freelanced for the French AFP news agency — married just this month.
“Please, don’t forget Abdul,” said his mother, Umm Abd Sha’at. “I don’t know how I’m going to live without him. Who’s going to help me?”
U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff said in a social media post on Wednesday that the ceasefire deal was entering a phase focused on demilitarizing Gaza, establishing a technocratic government and reconstruction. However, Witkoff did not offer any details about the new transitional Palestinian administration that would govern Gaza.
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