Since the start of its aggression on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, the Israeli occupation authorities have been systematically targeting Palestinian journalists, in an attempt to prevent media coverage of its crimes against defenseless civilians.
The Qatari Al Jazeera channel announced that the Israeli occupation assassinated its cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa while covering the Israeli assault on the Farhana School in Khan Yunis in the Gaza Strip.
Samer was killed hours after being injured, as he remained lying on the ground and besieged in the vicinity of Farhana School since Friday afternoon. Ambulance crews were unable to reach him as Israeli occupation forces continued to besiege the area.
Earlier; journalists Wael Al-Dahdouh and Samer Abu Daqqa suffered shrapnel injuries during an Israeli bombing on Khan Yunis city, south of the Gaza Strip.
Al-Jazeera reported that Al-Dahdouh was injured in the hand, shoulder, and abdomen after an Israeli drone attacked the vicinity of the school in the centre of the city.
Al-Dahdouh was immediately taken in an ambulance to the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis. In the hospital, he said that Samer Abu Daqqa’s injury was “more severe.”
Al Jazeera’s reporter stated that ambulances were not able to reach the cameraman Abu Daqqa due to the Israeli military siege imposed on the area.
Al Jazeera correspondents in Palestine confirmed that the Israeli drone deliberately assassinated Abu Daqqa, as he was injured in an initial bombing, and while he was being transported by a number of Palestinian Civil Defense members to the hospital, they were all bombed again, killing three Civil Defense members. Abu Daqqa was later taken to the hospital, where he breathed his last.
On the other hand; the Israeli occupation forces violently attacked Anadolu photojournalist Mustafa Alkharouf, who was on duty in occupied east Jerusalem, sending him to the hospital.
The incident occurred as a group of Palestinians gathered in the Wadi al-Joz neighbourhood near the Al-Aqsa Mosque to pray, amid restrictions imposed by the Israeli army on Friday prayers at the Mosque, restrictions seen for the past 10 weeks following the Israeli genocide war on the Gaza Strip.
The occupation forces first pulled their weapons at Alkharouf, who was covering the news, and then threw him to the ground, beating and kicking him while he was on the ground.
Alkharouf suffered severe blows, resulting in injuries to his face and body and was transported by ambulance to the Makassed Hospital in occupied east Jerusalem.
Israeli forces also attacked cameraman Faiz Abu Ramila, who was with Alkharouf.
Since the start of the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip on Oct. 7, 90 journalists have been killed in Israeli air attacks.
During the 70-day aggression, the Israeli occupation army launched a devastating war on Gaza, leaving 18,608 Palestinians killed and 50,594 civilians injured. A large number of victims are still under the rubble of homes demolished during Israeli airstrikes.
The Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip constitutes a blatant violation of international humanitarian and human rights law as it exposes civilians’ lives to extreme danger, which requires immediate international intervention.
The international community must force the Israeli occupation forces to abide by international human rights and humanitarian laws, mainly protecting the rights and lives of civilians, prohibiting their targeting and preserving their safety, and holding the Israeli leaders accountable for committing war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
