A missile strike in Gaza on Thursday claimed the lives of five journalists working for Al-Quds Today, a Palestinian television channel affiliated with the Islamic Jihad militant group. The Israeli military confirmed it targeted the vehicle, alleging it was transporting members of a “terrorist cell.”
The incident occurred in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, where the journalists’ broadcast truck was parked. According to Al-Quds Today, the journalists—Faisal Abu Al-Qumsan, Ayman Al-Jadi, Ibrahim Al-Sheikh Khalil, Fadi Hassouna, and Mohammed Al-Lada’a—were killed while performing their “journalistic and humanitarian duty.”
“We affirm our commitment to continue our resistant media message,” the channel said in a statement, mourning the loss of its team members.
Israel’s military stated that the strike targeted Islamic Jihad operatives who were “posing as journalists” and asserted that it had taken “numerous steps to mitigate the risk of harming civilians.”
Eyewitnesses in Nuseirat reported that the missile, fired by an Israeli aircraft, struck the vehicle parked outside Al-Awda Hospital, engulfing it in flames and killing all inside.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) expressed devastation at the news. “Journalists are civilians and must always be protected,” CPJ’s Middle East division said in a statement.
The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate recently reported that more than 190 journalists have been killed and at least 400 injured since the ongoing Gaza war erupted.
The conflict was sparked by the October 7, 2023, attack by Hamas and allied groups, including Islamic Jihad, which left 1,208 people dead in Israel, mostly civilians. Israel’s subsequent military campaign in Gaza has resulted in at least 45,399 deaths, predominantly civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry figures that the United Nations considers credible.
The deaths of the journalists have drawn widespread condemnation and renewed calls for the protection of media workers in conflict zones.
