Israeli strike kills five Palestinian journalists in Gaza, medics say

An Israeli air strike killed five Palestinian journalists outside a hospital, Gaza medics say but Israel’s army insists it attacked a vehicle carrying Islamic Jihad militants.

Medics on Thursday said the five were among at least 31 people killed in Israeli air assaults across the enclave before dawn, as Hamas and Israel traded blame over delays in reaching a ceasefire deal after more than 14 months of fighting.

The Palestinian Journalists Union said one strike killed five journalists from the Al-Quds Today channel who were in a broadcast vehicle in front of Al-Awda Hospital in the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

The union said more than 190 Palestinian journalists have been killed by Israeli fire since the war began in October 2023.

Video from the scene of Thursday’s attack showed the twisted wreckage of a white van with what appeared to be the remnants of the word “PRESS” in red on the back doors.

The Gaza-based channel called the strike a massacre and said in a statement on Telegram the five “were killed as they carried out their media and humanitarian duty”.

The Israeli military said it “conducted a precise strike on a vehicle with an Islamic Jihad terrorist cell inside in the area of Nuseirat”.

Later, it issued a statement listing the names of the five TV crewmen and saying: “intelligence from multiple sources confirmed that these individuals were Islamic Jihad operatives posing as journalists”.

Israel has regularly denied targeting journalists and says it takes steps to avoid hitting civilians.

Later on Thursday, dozens of relatives and fellow journalists took part in the funerals of the five journalists, whose bodies were wrapped in white shrouds.

Blue flak jackets bearing the word “PRESS” were placed on top of the shrouded bodies.

Later on Thursday, health officials said five medical staff, including a pediatrician, were killed by Israeli fire at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya in the northern edge of Gaza Strip, where Israeli forces have operated since October.

There was no Israeli comment on the medics’ death.

The officials there said they had resisted army orders to evacuate the hospital since the new ground offensive began nearly three months ago.

On Wednesday, Palestinian militant group Hamas and Israel traded blame over their failure to conclude a ceasefire agreement despite progress reported by both sides in the past few days.

Hamas said Israel had laid down further conditions, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the group of going back on understandings already reached.

“The occupation has set new conditions related to withdrawal, ceasefire, prisoners, and the return of the displaced, which has delayed reaching the agreement that was available,” Hamas said.

Netanyahu responded in a statement: “the Hamas terrorist organisation continues to lie, is reneging on understandings that have already been reached, and is continuing to create difficulties in the negotiations”.

The war was triggered by Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on southern Israel, in which 1200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza has since killed more than 45,300 Palestinians, according to health officials in the Hamas-run enclave.

Most of the population of 2.3 million has been displaced and much of Gaza is in ruins.