Three Palestinian journalists – including longtime CBS News freelance cameraman Abed Shaat – were killed on Wednesday, January 21, when an Israeli airstrike hit their vehicle in the Al-Zahra area southwest of Gaza City, according to Gaza’s civil defense agency. The Israel Defense Forces said troops struck “suspects” operating a drone “affiliated with Hamas,” while the Egyptian Relief Committee said the targeted vehicle was on a marked humanitarian mission. CBS mourned Shaat, but its published story did not denounce Israel for the strike.
Civil defense officials identified the other two journalists killed as Mohammed Salah Qashta and Anas Ghneim. An eyewitness said the journalists were using a drone to take images of aid distribution connected to the Egyptian Relief Committee when a vehicle accompanying them was hit. The aid group confirmed one of its vehicles was targeted and said its cars “bear the committee’s logo,” calling it a criminal attack on a humanitarian mission.
Shaat’s reporting was part of the daily logistics of covering Gaza from inside Gaza. CBS said he filmed video from Khan Yunis throughout the war, including from an ambulance after he was wounded. He was 30 and had married two weeks before he was killed. After the ceasefire began in October, he joined the Egyptian humanitarian committee to document relief operations.
The IDF says the drone posed a threat and that the incident is under review. But Israel’s military did not respond when asked how it knew the drone was Hamas-affiliated or whether it had identified the targets as journalists, who are protected under international humanitarian law. The Post also reported the vehicle was marked with an Egyptian flag and located more than a mile west of Israel’s “Yellow Line” boundary.
The Committee to Protect Journalists condemned Israel’s strike on what it described as a clearly marked civilian vehicle and called for a transparent investigation. UNESCO’s director-general likewise condemned the killings and cited U.N. Security Council Resolution 2222 on the protection of journalists as civilians in conflict.
This story lands inside a newsroom already in upheaval. Paramount installed Bari Weiss as CBS News editor-in-chief in October 2025 after acquiring her outlet, The Free Press, promising “balanced and fact-based” journalism. But “balance” is doing a lot of work, as The Free Press has covered the Gaza war from an “unambiguously pro-Israeli” point of view.
On the Shaat story itself, CBS ran a “Go deeper with The Free Press” box linking to a segment titled “WATCH: Gazan Journalists Say Al Jazeera Works Hand in Glove with Hamas,” a curious add-on to an article about Israel killing a CBS contributor. Tony Dokoupil – promoted under Weiss’s leadership to anchor the “CBS Evening News” beginning January 2026 – has been criticized by commentators for echoing the IDF’s drone allegation in brief coverage of the killings, leaving the accusation louder than the evidence.
The strike underscores a grim arithmetic of this war. CPJ says at least 207 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza since the war began in 2023, “the vast majority” by Israel. The International Federation of Journalists puts the Gaza toll at at least 234. Reporters Without Borders says more than 220 journalists have been killed by the IDF in Gaza since October 2023, including 62 it says were killed because of their profession. Different methods, different totals – one consistent outcome: fewer journalists alive to report Gaza to the outside world.
Alan Mosley is a historian, jazz musician, policy researcher for the Tenth Amendment Center, and host of It’s Too Late, “The #1 Late Night Show in America (NOT hosted by a Communist)!” New episodes debut every Wednesday night at 9ET across all major platforms; just search “AlanMosleyTV” or “It’s Too Late with Alan Mosley.”
