Extract from ABC News
Gaza authorities said an Israeli air strike killed five Palestinian journalists outside a hospital on Thursday. (Reuters: Khamis Said)
In short:
Five Palestinian journalists sleeping in a TV broadcast van have been killed in an Israeli strike, according to their employer.
The Israel Defense Forces says the men were Islamic Jihad operatives pretending to be journalists.
What’s next?:
The IDF has rejected claims it is targeting media workers in Gaza, as the local industry says almost 200 have been killed since the start of the war.
Five Palestinian journalists have been killed in an Israeli air strike in central Gaza, according to their employer and local health authorities.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has dismissed assertions they were media workers, insisting the five men were terrorists from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group.
The strike happened near the Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat, with an Israeli missile hitting a television broadcast van the men were sleeping in early on Thursday morning local time.
Images and video circulating on social media of the immediate aftermath of the strike show the van on fire shortly after the attack.
Photos and vision posted by news agencies published after the fire had been extinguished show red lettering on the side of the truck saying "PRESS".
The five journalists were identified by their employer, Al Quds Today Television, as Faisal Abu Al-Qumsan, Fadi Hassouna, Ibrahim Al-Sheikh Ali, Ayman Al-Jadi, and Mohammed Al-Lada'a.
One local journalist has told the ABC that Al Quds Today Television is associated with Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
In a statement on social media, the network said the men died "while carrying out their journalistic and humanitarian duty."
Funerals were held for the men on Thursday, where their flak jackets displaying the word "PRESS" were laid upon their bodies.
"May God take revenge on them … he's the one that makes the news and broadcasts the crimes to the world, this is what they do to them," Fadi Hassouna's mother said while mourning her son.
The IDF was quick to dispute that, and argued the five men were members of a "terrorist cell" from Islamic Jihad.
"Intelligence from multiple sources confirmed that these individuals were Islamic Jihad operatives posing as journalists," it said in a statement.
"One source was a list of Islamic Jihad operatives discovered by the IDF during operations in the Gaza Strip.
"The list explicitly identified four of the eliminated individuals as members of the Islamic Jihad terrorist organisation."
The Palestinian Journalists Union said the strike killed five journalists from the Al-Quds Today channel. (Reuters: Ramadan Abed)
IDF spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani said there were "fake claims" the group were journalists.
"Wearing a vest that says press doesn't turn a terrorist into a journalist," he said in a post on X.
Palestinian journalists disputed that.
"The Israeli army justifies or excuses this targeting by claiming it is aimed at individuals involved in Palestinian organisations and cells," Abed Miqdad from the Al-Araby channel said.
"However, on the ground, these individuals were on journalistic assignments, residing in press vehicles and covering events.
"They were not engaged in any other activity. Therefore, this is no justification for committing such heinous crimes in such a manner."
Palestinian journalists argue latest strike another example of media being targeted
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, representing media in the occupied territories, condemned the strike.
"This crime is part of an ongoing series of Israeli assaults on Palestinian journalists, targeting media professionals at all times and in all locations in an attempt to silence the truth and tighten the noose on freedom of expression," it said in a statement.
"The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate also records that more than 190 journalists and media workers have been martyred since the beginning of the Israeli assault on the Gaza Strip.
"This reflects the systematic targeting of Palestinian journalists, an ongoing violation that amounts to a war crime under international law."
The IDF has rejected allegations it has targeted the media since the war in Gaza began, after Hamas' attacks on Israel on October 7.
Criticism of the IDF's attitude towards the media has extended to its restrictions on foreign journalists accessing Gaza — except in limited and controlled circumstances when embedded with Israeli troops.
Ben Gvir’s latest provocative visit to the Temple Mount
Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir visited Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Thursday, sparking condemnation from the Palestinian Authority and Jordan.
"I went up to the site of our temple this morning to pray for the peace of our soldiers, the swift return of all hostages and a total victory, God willing," Mr Ben Gvir said in a message on X.
He also posted a photo of himself on the holy site, with members of the Israeli security forces and the famed golden Dome of the Rock in the background.
The Palestinian Authority's foreign ministry said in a statement that it "condemns" Mr Ben Gvir's latest visit, calling his prayer at the site a "provocation to millions of Palestinians and Muslims".
Jordan, which administers the mosque compound, similarly condemned what its foreign ministry called Mr Ben Gvir's "provocative and unacceptable" actions.
The ministry's statement decried a "violation of the historical and legal status quo".
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a brief statement that "the status quo on the Temple Mount has not changed".
Mr Ben Gvir has repeatedly defied the Israeli government's longstanding ban on Jewish prayer at the site in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, which is revered by both Muslims and Jews.
Israel's national security minister visited Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound, sparking condemnation. (AFP: Ahmad Gharabli)
Under the status quo maintained by Israel — which has occupied east Jerusalem and its Old City since 1967 — non-Muslims are allowed to visit the compound during specified hours, but they are not permitted to pray there or display religious symbols.
UNIFIL says Israel 'continuing damage' in Lebanon despite ceasefire
The United Nations' peacekeeping force in Lebanon expressed concern on Thursday at the "continuing" damage done by Israeli forces in the country's south despite a ceasefire in the war with Hezbollah.
The ceasefire went into effect on November 27, but the warring sides have since traded accusations of violating it.
Under the agreement, UNIFIL peacekeepers and the Lebanese army were to redeploy near the Israeli border to the south as Israeli forces withdrew over 60 days.
It states that Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers should be the only forces in south Lebanon.
UNIFIL said in a statement on Thursday that "there is concern at continuing destruction by the IDF in residential areas, agricultural land and road networks in south Lebanon".
The statement added that "this is in violation of Resolution 1701" and reiterated its call for "the timely withdrawal" of Israeli troops from Lebanon.
"Any actions that risk the fragile cessation of hostilities must cease," UNIFIL said.
Lebanon's official National News Agency (NNA) reported on Thursday "extensive" operations by Israeli forces in the south.
It said residents of Qantara fled to a nearby village "following an incursion by Israeli enemy forces into their town".
On Wednesday the NNA said Israeli aircraft struck the eastern Baalbek region, far from the border.
Reuters/AFP
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