Israel kills another Palestinian journalist in Gaza; death toll reaches 195

Another Palestinian journalist has been killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip, bringing the death toll to since the start of the Israeli genocide against the besieged coastal territory in early October of last year, according to a Palestinian rights group.

The Palestinian Journalists’ Forum said in a statement that Mohammed Ba’lousha, a correspondent for the private Lebanese and Dubai-based al-Mashhad channel, lost his life on Saturday when an Israeli unmanned aerial vehicle launched an attack against an area in Gaza.

The non-governmental organization condemned “the international silence and failure to protect Palestinian journalists and ensure their ability to perform their professional duties in accordance with international laws and humanitarian conventions.”

An Israeli quadcopter targeted Ba’lousha’s home on Ahmed Yassin Street in the al-Saftawi neighborhood, north of Gaza City, local sources were quoted as saying.

Ba’lousha was previously injured on December 12, 2023, by an Israeli sniper.

The Palestinian journalist’s body arrived at Sheikh Radwan Clinic, northwest of Gaza City.

Israel killed 18 Palestinian journalists in November: Rights group

A Palestinian rights organization says 18 journalists were killed in Gaza by Israeli military forces in November.

On Thursday, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said Israeli military forces had carried out a “massacre” of Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip, killing an unprecedented number of media professionals.

An annual report published by the media freedom organization revealed that the Israeli army killed 18 journalists – two in Lebanon and 16 in Gaza – in the line of duty this year.

The toll, equivalent to around a third of the total worldwide of 54, was described by RSF as “an unprecedented massacre.”

“Palestine is the most dangerous country for journalists, recording a higher death toll than any other country over the past five years,” the organization said in its report, which covers data up to December 1.

In total, the report said, more than 145 journalists have been killed by the Israeli army in Gaza since the start of the war there in October 2023. Out of these, 35 journalists were killed while they were working.

RSF said it has compelling evidence that dozens of journalists in Gaza and Lebanon were targeted due to their profession, adding that it has submitted four war crime complaints against the Israeli army to the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Journalists working within the Gaza Strip encounter heightened risks while covering the genocidal war, particularly in light of Israeli ground offensives and airstrikes, as well as challenges such as disrupted communications, shortages of supplies, and power outages.

Backed by the United States and its Western allies, Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Flood against the Israeli regime in response to its decades-long campaign of oppression against Palestinians.

The regime’s bloody onslaught on Gaza has so far killed 44,930 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 106,624 others. Thousands more are also missing and presumed dead under rubble.

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