Dozens of journalists took half in a funeral on Saturday for an Al Jazeera cameraman killed in an Israeli strike within the south of the war-torn Gaza Strip.
Samer Abu Daqqa’s physique, bearing his bullet-proof vest and helmet, was carried by way of a crowd within the metropolis of Khan Yunis earlier than being buried in a grave dug by fellow journalists.
His mom Umm Maher Abu Daqqa accused Israel of concentrating on journalists, “particularly these working for Al Jazeera”.
Abu Daqqa, born in 1978, was reporting from a college in Khan Yunis when he was hit by a drone strike on Friday, stated the Qatar-based Al Jazeera tv community.
His colleague, Gaza bureau chief Wael al-Dahdouh, was wounded in the identical assault. Dahdouh had misplaced his spouse and two kids in a separate Israeli strike within the preliminary weeks of the struggle.
Dahdouh informed AFP the Israeli military “intentionally” focused journalists in Gaza, including it “doesn’t need the press”.
“There was solely the Al Jazeera crew and the civil defence within the space,” he stated.
The Israeli military informed AFP it took “operationally possible measures” to guard each civilians and journalists in Gaza.
“Given the continued exchanges of fireplace, remaining in an energetic fight zone has inherent dangers,” it stated.
Three members of the civil defence power have been additionally killed within the strike and their funerals have been held on Saturday, AFP correspondents reported.
On Friday, Al Jazeera stated it held “Israel accountable for systematically concentrating on and killing Al Jazeera journalists and their households”.
“Following Samer’s damage, he was left to bleed to dying for over 5 hours, as Israeli forces prevented ambulances and rescue employees from reaching him, denying the much-needed emergency remedy,” it stated in an announcement.
The Israeli military stated it permitted a route for a Palestinian ambulance to entry the scene however the medical van selected one other route and was blocked.
Greater than 60 journalists and media employees have died for the reason that begin of the struggle between Hamas and Israel on October 7, in accordance with the Committee to Defend Journalists.
On Saturday the Emirati TV channel Al Mashhad stated its correspondent Muhammad Baalousha “was injured by an Israeli sniper within the Gaza Strip”, condemning it as an “assault on press freedom”.
The channel stated in an announcement that it was making an attempt “to evacuate its correspondent” after he sustained the gunshot wound.
The struggle started after Hamas militants launched an unprecedented assault on Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7 that killed round 1,140 individuals, principally civilians, in accordance with Israeli figures.
Vowing to destroy Hamas and convey house an estimated 250 hostages kidnapped by militants to Gaza, Israel launched an enormous offensive that has left a lot of the besieged territory in ruins.
The well being ministry within the Hamas-run Gaza Strip says the struggle has killed a minimum of 18,800 individuals, principally ladies and kids within the Palestinian territory.
AFP