Journalist among nine killed in latest Israeli strikes on Gaza
At least nine Palestinians have been killed in new Israeli air raids targeting multiple areas across the Gaza Strip, including a journalist, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reports.
The journalist was identified as Moataz Mohammed Rajab, who worked for the Al-Quds al-Youm TV. He was killed alongside several others when Israeli forces struck a vehicle on al-Nafaq street in Gaza City.
A teenage boy was also killed in a separate strike on Gaza City’s Shujayea neighbourhood.
Two others were killed in Bani Suheila, a town near the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, while another person was killed in air raids that struck several neighbourhoods in Khan Younis.
Journalist death toll in Gaza rises to 221
Gaza’s Government Media Office says the number of journalists killed since October 2023 has risen to 221, following the death of Moataz Mohammed Rajab, a cameraman and editor for Al-Quds al-Youm TV channel.
Rajab was killed in an Israeli air strike on Gaza City earlier today, alongside several others.
In a statement, the Media Office condemned what it called the “systematic targeting and assassination” of Palestinian journalists by Israeli forces, urging international journalist unions and media organisations to denounce the killings and take legal action to hold Israel accountable.
It accused the US and other Western countries of being complicit in Israel’s ongoing genocide and said it holds them “fully responsible for these heinous and brutal crimes”.
“We demand urgent international intervention to stop the killing of journalists in Gaza and to ensure their protection,” the statement read.
Gaza death toll rises
At least 63 people have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since dawn, according to medical sources speaking to our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.
UNRWA chief describes ‘summary execution’ of Gaza staff member
Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, has provided new details about the killing of an UNRWA staff member in March.
In a post on X, Lazzarini said the man named Kamal left his home in Rafah on March 23 wearing a UN vest and driving a UN-marked vehicle. “Within an hour, UNRWA lost contact with him. His whereabouts unknown for a week,” he said.
“On 30 March, Kamal’s body was discovered near a mass grave, alongside the human remains of the PRCS humanitarian workers killed by the Israeli Forces. Kamal was killed through one or multiple blows to the back of his skull. He was then buried next to the other @PalestineRCS team members.”
Israel faced widespread condemnation after its forces opened fire on Gaza health workers who were travelling in a convoy of ambulances to try to help injured people in Rafah. Fifteen first responders were killed in what the Palestine Red Crescent Society described as a “massacre”.
Lazzarini said that despite several requests for information from the Israeli government on what happened to Kamal, it did not receive a response.
“Kamal worked with UNRWA for over 20 years. He left his wife and children behind. He is one case too many. UNRWA teams are not a target. Impunity opens the door to more atrocities,” Lazzarini said, urging an independent probe into the killings of Kamal and other UNRWA staff members.
