Two Al Jazeera journalists, reporter Ismail Abu Omar and cameraman Ahmed Matar, were injured today in a “deliberate” attack by Israeli troops, the media office of the Government of the Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas, with the Qatari chain.
“We denounce and condemn in the strongest terms the deliberate attack by the Israeli occupation army against the Al Jazeera channel team for the fifth time,” it said in a statement.
The Qatari network confirmed that both journalists had been “seriously injured” in an Israeli drone strike near Rafah, at the southern end of the Gaza Strip.
Hamas regretted that this is the fifth attack directed at a network team while doing their job, which it considered “a total crime and in violation of international law.”
“This attack is part of the intimidation of journalists and a failed attempt to obscure the truth and prevent media coverage of the occupation’s scandalous crimes against children, women and civilians,” the Gaza government said.
The Qatari network reported that both were in the north of the Rafah city documenting the consequences of the strong air attacks that the city has suffered in recent days, which have left nearly a hundred dead.
Both were transferred to the European Hospital in Gazawhere they underwent immediate surgeries: but Omar’s leg had to be amputated to save his life, the network indicated.
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“There are no terms for this genocidal war. Everyone is a target,” indicated the Qatari media.
Professionals in the media have been victims of numerous attacks. The best-known case is that of Wael Dahdouh, head of the media outlet in the Strip, who in January was transferred to Qatar for treatment after being injured a month earlier in an attack in Khan Yunis, in which his partner, cameraman Samer, died. Abu Daqa.
Dahdouh’s family died early in the war in an attack on their home in Gaza City, and his eldest son, also a journalist, died weeks later in another attack on the vehicle in which he was traveling with another freelance journalist.
According to Hamas data, 126 journalists and media employees have been killed in the Strip since the war began on October 7, many of them while doing their jobs, indicating that “media professionals are in the cycle of murder.” and deliberate attacks.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists has documented the deaths of 85 journalists and media workers since October 7, including 78 Palestinians, four Israelis and three Lebanese.