Palestinian journalist killed in Gaza

A Palestinian journalist was killed in Gaza on May 6th by an Israeli airstrike, according to Middle East Monitor and agencies.

An airstrike hit the house of journalist Mustafa Ayad in Zeitoun, leading to his demise. His death brought the number of journalists killed in the area to 142.

On December 21st, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPF) had already announced that the Gaza war had been the most dangerous for media workers as it resulted in the highest number of journalist fatalities in a single location in one year.

“The Israeli army has killed more journalists in 10 weeks than any other army or entity has in any single year. And with every journalist killed, the war becomes harder to document and to understand,” had declared Sherif Mansour, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator.

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The Israeli war on journalism has also targeted the Qatari government-funded television network Al Jazeera, addressed by Israel’s authorities as a threat to national security.

Al Jazeera has rejected the “dangerous and ridiculous lie”, denouncing the “criminal action” of the Israeli government.

“Israel’s suppression of free press to cover up its crimes by killing and arresting journalists has not deterred us from performing our duty,” it stated.

“Much of what we know about what has happened in Gaza is because of reporters who are there doing their jobs,” claimed US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller, “including reporters from Al Jazeera.”

On April 1st, Israel’s parliament passed a bill to ban Al Jazeera from broadcasting in the country.

“The terrorist channel Al Jazeera will no longer broadcast from Israel,” wrote Netanyahu on X, “I intend to act immediately in accordance with the new law to stop the channel’s activity”.

Middle East Monitor and agencies.