'Israel' kills 2 female journalists; total 126 since start of genocide

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
12 Feb 2024 20:15

The Israeli occupation forces' deliberate targeting of journalists is still ongoing as the death toll of media personnel rises to 126.

Relatives and colleagues of two Palestinian journalists Hasouna Slim and Sari Mansoor, killed in an Israeli strike, mourn over their bodies during their funeral in Deir al-Balah in the southern Gaza Strip on November 19, 2023. (AFP)

The Government Media Office in Gaza reported that the number of Palestinian journalists killed since the beginning of the genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza has reached 126 with the recent killing of two female journalists.

Ala'a Hassan al-Hams, a journalist with Sanad Agency and other media outlets, and Angham Ahmad Adwan, a journalist from Libya's February Channel, were both killed due to the continuous Israeli bombardment and targeting of civilian homes in Rafah and Jabalia areas.

Ala'a al-Hams succumbed to the injuried she sustained in Israeli airstrikes on Rafah last night. In the previous month, an Israeli strike resulted in the killing of 11 members of her family, and she suffered a spinal fracture. During the recent airstrike, both she and her unborn child were killed, along with the remaining members of her family.

The journalist, Ala'a AlHamss, succumbed to her wounds sustained from Israeli bombardment in the past few days. She folloed her family that was killed by Israeli bombardment days ago.

Ala's joined a list of 126 journalists killed in Gaza in the past 4 months by the Israeli Army. pic.twitter.com/a5fk3WmWA4
— Diaa Mahmoud | ضياء محمود (@DiaaMahmoud) February 12, 2024

It is worth noting that the head of the Sanaa negotiating delegation and spokesperson for the Ansar Allah movement, Mohammad Abdul Salam, expressed condolences for the martyrdom of journalist al-Hams, stating, "Our condolences to the remaining family and relatives of the journalist Ala'a Al-Hams, who was martyred in Rafah today." He reiterated his condemnation and denunciation of the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, journalist Angham Adwan was residing in Libya and worked in several institutions and media channels. She had recently returned to the Gaza Strip and was martyred as a result of the air strike carried out by the Israeli occupation on her home.

Although Palestinian and international media repeatedly warned against the Israeli army targeting media crews and called for their protection, the occupation never responded to those calls and continued to target journalists as part of its attempts to obscure the facts, hide the picture, and prevent the documentation of the massacres it continues to commit in its ongoing aggression.

IOF inciting against journalists to assassinate them: Gaza Media

Earlier today, the Government Media Office in Gaza reported that the Israeli occupation military is once again engaging in incitement to continue the assassination of Palestinian journalists and attempting to justify its crimes.

In a press release, the Office said that the Israeli occupation military "occasionally issues inciting publications against various media outlets and Palestinian journalists, attempting to market false narratives as a prelude to assassinating or killing them, as well as justify its crimes and obscure the Palestinian narrative."

It pointed out that "this has been repeated dozens of times since the start of the genocidal war."

According to the statement, the Israeli occupation publishes photos and videos of journalists and photographers, as if condemning them, but it "selectively extracts them from reports they have prepared and previously broadcasted on television channels and through social media, as part of their daily field journalistic work."

"We have issued previous statements and declarations, clarifying that the occupation engages in incitement against various Palestinian sectors and employees in diverse fields," the Office noted.

This includes incitement against the health sector, hospitals, doctors, as well as mosques, schools, universities, and many other sectors, it added.

The statement emphasized that the occupation's aim of this incitement is to try to justify its targeting of all Palestinian sectors and the killing of doctors, teachers, journalists, and others who have been explicitly targeted.

The Government Media Office in Gaza held the Israeli occupation fully responsible for the lives of the Palestinian people, warning "the world against the occupation's targeting of journalists, doctors, teachers, civil defense personnel, and all categories of our Palestinian society."

It also called on "all free world countries to pressure the occupation to stop the genocidal war it is waging against civilians, children, women, and all categories of the Palestinian society."