At least 11 Palestinians, including two children and three journalists, were killed in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza since dawn on Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza in the latest display of Israeli disregard for civilian life.
Munir al-Bursh, director general of the Egyptian Ministry of Interior, told Al Jazeera that the killed journalists were traveling in an identifiable Egyptian Committee for Gaza Relief car, which is an organization that oversees Egyptian humanitarian efforts in the Gaza Strip.
Journalists Targeted While Doing Their Job
The three photojournalists — Anas Ghunaim, Abdul Ra’ouf Shaath, and Mohammad Qeshta — were documenting conditions on the ground near the so-called Netzarim Corridor in central Gaza when their vehicle was directly struck by an Israeli air attack. A fourth person was also killed in the same strike.
Video footage circulating online shows the journalists’ vehicle reduced to a charred shell on the roadside, smoke still rising — a stark visual reminder of the dangers journalists face in Gaza, where press markings and prior coordination have repeatedly failed to offer protection.
Mohammed Mansour, a spokesperson for the Egyptian Committee for Gaza Relief, said that the journalists were working on a story about a newly established displacement camp, adding that their vehicle was well-known to the Israeli military. The strike happened about five kilometers from Israeli-controlled territory, raising serious questions about Israel’s justification for the attack.
Despite this, Israeli Army Radio reported that the vehicle was a target because its passengers were using a drone to spy — an argument Israel repeatedly used in previous incidents, without proving it with any verifiable evidence..
A Familiar and Deadly Excuse
Human rights organisations and groups promoting press freedom have, for years, slammed Israel for resorting to a catch-all and unproven claim of security pretexts while attempting to justify lethal forces being used against journalists. Since the start of the Gaza war, Israel has killed an unprecedented number of media workers, making Gaza one of the deadliest places on earth for journalists.
This latest strike adds to a grim list of previous cases, which include the highly publicized killing of Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh in 2022-she was shot dead by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank while clearly identified as press. Since that incident stirred international outrage, Israel has successfully avoided accountability-one of many examples that critics identify in what they call a culture of impunity.
Families Wiped Out, Children Shot
It is not just journalists who have been killed during the conflict. In central Gaza, three people belonging to the same family, including a child, were reported killed as a result of an Israeli strike on the eastern Deir el-Balah region by medical sources at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
In southern Gaza, a 13-year-old boy was shot and killed by Israeli soldiers while gathering firewood in the town of Bani Suheila, according to hospital staff who spoke with the Associated Press. Video footage circulating online captures the boy’s father in hysterics on the ground in response to his son’s death, a distressing familiarity in the Gaza strip.
A 32-year-old female also died from gunshot wounds near the town of Khan Younis, while two other Palestinians were killed in distinct incidents in Northern Gaza, reported Wafa News Agency.
Ceasefire in Name Only
The Palestinian government claimed that Israel broke the United States-mediated truce, which began on October 10, with its Airstrikes, Ground attacks, and sniper fire.
On the other hand, Israel also imposes strict restrictions on the importation of food, health materials, and sheltering materials that have continues to worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian crisis that exists. Approximately 2.2 million people are facing severe shortages of the necessities for life as the weather is cold.
While Israel asserts that it has Pulled Out Of Areas in Gaza, the truth remains that according to Israeli military reports, it continues to dominate large parts of south, east, and north Gaza in effect ruling over the whole area under occupation.
A Pattern, Not Isolated Incidents
The killing of journalists, children, and entire families is no longer an aberration but part of a documented pattern of Israeli military conduct in Gaza. Repeated attacks on clearly civilian targets, coupled with a lack of transparent investigations or accountability, have drawn mounting accusations of war crimes from rights groups and international legal experts.
As journalists continue to be killed while documenting humanitarian suffering, and children are shot while gathering firewood, Israel’s claims of precision warfare ring increasingly hollow — and the silence or inaction of its international backers grows ever more complicit.