Translated Content:
By Mahmoud Hashem:
The Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip has resulted in heavy losses among journalists since Hamas launched its unprecedented “Al-Aqsa Flood” operation on October 7, 2023, and the Israeli government declared war on the besieged territory.
According to a statement issued on Friday, October 13, 2023, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) investigated all reports concerning journalists killed, injured, detained, or missing during the conflict. In the first six days of fighting, at least 10 journalists were killed, two went missing, and two were injured. During the same period, the conflict claimed the lives of at least 2,700 people on both sides and left several thousand wounded.
The CPJ explained that journalists in Gaza face particularly high risks while attempting to cover the war amidst frequent Israeli airstrikes, communication disruptions, and widespread power outages. The deaths of nine Palestinian journalists were confirmed as of October 12; one Israeli journalist was confirmed killed and another went missing during the first six days of the conflict.
Sherif Mansour, Middle East and North Africa program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, said the committee emphasizes that journalists are civilians performing vital work during times of crisis and should not be targeted by warring parties. “Millions around the world rely on reporters in the region to provide accurate information about the conflict.” Journalists must be respected and protected, just like all civilians.
The published list includes names based on information obtained from the Committee to Protect Journalists' sources in the region and from media reports. It is updated regularly regarding journalists who have been reported killed, missing, injured, or detained:
On October 12, Shihab Radio's Voice of the Prisoners, along with his wife and three children, were killed in an Israeli airstrike that targeted their home in Jabalia, northern Gaza.
On October 11, freelance photojournalist Mohammed Fayez Abu Matar was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Rafah, southern Gaza.
On October 9, Saeed Al-Taweel, editor-in-chief of the Fifth News website, was killed when Israeli warplanes bombed an area housing several media outlets in the Rimal neighborhood of western Gaza. The strike specifically targeted the Heji building. Mohammed Subh, a photographer for Khabar News Agency, was also killed in the airstrike on the Rimal district.
Hisham Al-Nawajha, a journalist with Khabar News Agency, was also reportedly killed in the same airstrike. The same bombing that killed Tawil and Subh.
On October 8, Asaad Shamlakh, a freelance journalist, was killed along with nine members of his family in an Israeli airstrike on their home in Sheikh Ajlin, a neighborhood in the southern Gaza Strip.
On October 7, Yaniv Zohar, an Israeli photographer working for the Hebrew-language daily Israel Hayom, was killed during a Hamas attack on Kibbutz Nahal Oz in southern Israel.
Mohammed al-Salhi, a photojournalist with the Fourth Estate news agency, was shot and killed near a Palestinian refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.
Mohammed Jarghoun, a journalist with Smart Media, was shot while covering the conflict in an area east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Center for Media Freedom (MADA) and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Ibrahim Mohammed Lafi, a photographer for Ain Media, was killed after being shot at the Erez Crossing in the Gaza Strip, according to MADA and the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Detained
MADA Center reported the disappearance of Palestinian cameraman Nidal al-Wahidi, who works for Al-Najah TV. Later, al-Wahidi's family informed the media that he was being held by the Israeli army.
MADA Center also reported the disappearance of Palestinian cameraman Haitham Abdelwahed, who works for Ain Media Agency. Contact was lost with him while he was covering events near the Erez Crossing.
The disappearance of a cameraman for the Israeli news site Ynet, whose wife was killed, was also reported. His family fears he is being held hostage along with his three-year-old daughter. The Committee to Protect Journalists confirmed that he was working on the day his family was attacked.
Al-Ghad TV correspondent Ibrahim Kanaan was injured by shrapnel from an artillery shell in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, according to MADA Center and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Israeli police assaulted Firas Lotfi, a Sky News Arabia correspondent, along with other Sky News journalists in the southern city of Ashkelon, according to members of the television crew. Lotfi said that Israeli police pointed their guns at his head and forced him to remove his... They took his clothes, confiscated the team's phones, and forced them to leave the area under police escort.