In a new crime against media crews, four Palestinian journalists were killed by Israel on Sunday morning after a direct attack on press and medical crews inside the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip.

Medical sources said the martyrs were: Al Jazeera cameraman Mohammed Salama, cameraman Hossam Al-Masri, journalist Mariam Abu Daqqa, and journalist Moaz Abu Taha. With their deaths, the number of journalists killed since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza on 7 October 2023, has risen to 244, according to the Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate.

Gaza: the most dangerous place in the world for journalists

Since the outbreak of the war, Gaza has become the most dangerous professional environment for journalists around the world, with international organizations documenting repeated targeting of media workers, either through direct bombardment during their field coverage or by targeting their homes with their families.

Earlier, the Committee to Protect Journalists said that “the number of journalists killed in Gaza is the highest in a single conflict since it began documenting its work three decades ago,” while Reporters Without Borders described what is happening as “the extermination of the Palestinian press.”

The deaths of the four journalists at Nasser Hospital

According to human rights reports, the intensity and nature of the targeting indicate a systematic policy aimed at silencing media coverage and preventing the world from seeing what is happening. Human rights activists emphasize that journalists are considered “protected civilians” under international humanitarian law, making their targeting a war crime that requires international accountability.

Media professionals in Gaza work in an almost impossible environment: near-total power and communications blackouts, a lack of equipment, and constant danger to their lives and those of their families. Yet they continue to cover the massacres and violations, conveying to the world scenes from the field that rarely reach it through other channels.

The deaths of the four journalists at Nasser Hospital not only raise the death toll, but also reflect a grim reality that threatens to obscure the truth in Gaza. While media professionals pay with their lives to report on what is happening, the question remains: Who will hold Israel accountable for targeting the press and silencing witnesses to its crimes?

Featured image via the Canary

By Alaa Shamali

This post was originally published on Canary.