On Thursday, Israeli forces struck the courtyard of the al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital in Gaza City, killing four journalists and at least two other civilians.
The hospital is run by the Episcopal Diocese of Jerusalem, which strongly condemned the attack in a statement that was released before a fourth journalist was declared dead.
“This morning at about 10:20 am local time, Israeli forces fired inside the compound of our al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City, killing three journalists, as well as two others, including a father who was escorting his son to our surgical unit for treatment from previous injuries,” the Diocese said.
“In addition, this unprovoked assault against civilians wounded thirty other bystanders, among them four of our hospital staff,” the statement added.
The Diocese said that it condemned the attack in the “strongest possible terms” and called on the international community to enforce Israel’s adherence to the “Fourth Geneva Convention with respect to its provisions for special protections for hospitals, medical personnel, journalists, and civilians in general.”
According to Middle East Eye, the four slain journalists have been identified as Suleiman Hajjaj and photographer Ismail Badah, who both worked for Palestine Today TV, and photographer Samir al-Rifai, who worked for the Shams News Agency, and photojournalist and video editor Moataz Muhammad Rajab, who worked for Quds Al-Youm TV.
Sources told MEE that the strike hit the hospital courtyard while media workers were gathered there and that no one had prior warning of the bombing.
According to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate, the massacre brings the total number of Palestinian journalists killed by Israeli forces since October 2023 to 225. The PJS said in a statement that it condemned Israel’s “continued systematic policy of targeting and killing journalists and committing successive massacres against them and their families.”
