Al Jazeera has Strongly refuse The Israeli army claimed that the correspondent killed in an airstrike in Gaza this week was a Hamas operative concerned within the October 7 assault.
Harrowing footage shared on social media confirmed Ismail Gul’s physique being decapitated after being attacked in his automobile in Gaza Metropolis on Wednesday.
His photographer, Rami al-Rifi, and Khalid Shawa, a boy passing by on his bicycle, had been additionally killed.
Whereas regional information this week has been dominated by different high-profile assassinations, many Palestinians are additionally involved in regards to the killing of a outstanding native journalist.
In an announcement on Thursday, the Israel Protection Forces (IDF) described Ismail Ghor as a “Hamas army wing operative and Nuhba terrorist”, suggesting he was a member of the armed group’s elite unit.
As a part of his duties, he allegedly “instructed different brokers learn how to doc operations and was actively concerned in documenting and publicizing assaults towards IDF models”.
Al Jazeera referred to as the accusations towards its employees “baseless” and stated it “underscores Israel’s lengthy historical past of fabricating lies and false proof used to cowl up its heinous crimes.”
Ismail’s brother Jihad additionally instructed the BBC that his late brother was only a civilian who “portrayed the struggling of the Palestinian individuals in Gaza to the skin world”.
The Gaza Metropolis-based journalist has change into an everyday visitor on the Qatari TV channel, a preferred information supply within the area however strongly criticized by Israeli authorities.
Prayers had been held in Gaza on Friday for the late Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was assassinated within the Iranian capital Tehran, and a few Palestinians stated they had been additionally considering of these killed nearer to house. individuals.
“I am so heartbroken for Ismail [al-Ghoul]”, commented Maha Sarsak, who has been displaced from Shujaya to the middle of the zone. “I observe the information within the north by means of him on social media. We don’t all the time have tv, however We are able to hear his voice on the radio.
This week, journalists in Gaza put down their physique armor at a gathering to honor Ghor and Riffey.
A buddy of the 2 stated: “They have not slept or eaten for a number of days. They’ve even misplaced lots of weight.
Ismail al-Ghoul reported on the Israeli assault on Shifa hospital in March and was arrested by the IDF on the scene however launched 12 hours later with none expenses. Al Jazeera claimed this “debunks and refutes their false claims that he has hyperlinks to any group”.
The final task for Al Jazeera’s two journalists was to collect responses to the information of Haniyeh’s demise. Their automobile was attacked close to the destroyed home of Hamas leaders close to the town’s refugee camp, al-Shadi camp.
Throughout the warfare, Israel banned worldwide journalists from coming into the Palestinian territories, aside from restricted and extremely managed visits with the Israeli army. Egypt additionally banned journalists earlier than closing the Rafah crossing with Gaza.
For greater than a decade, many networks, together with the BBC, have relied on native Palestinian employees for on-the-ground reporting and have employed new employees or freelancers.
Al Jazeera stated Ismail Gul had been working on the channel since November. He was stated to have suffered “struggling” in the course of the warfare, together with the lack of his father and brother.
Different photographers spoke of how al-Rifi used his technical experience to assist them with their shoots.
After pictures of the demise of Khaled al-Shawa, a boy killed within the strike, had been extensively publicized, the boy’s mom posted a message on social media imploring individuals to recollect him too.
“My son will not be an unknown martyr,” she stated. “We should identify our martyrs. They need to not speak about us as numbers.
Al Jazeera, which broadcasts in English and Arabic, has just lately been the location of a collection of assaults towards employees and their households in Gaza.
In late October, the community’s outstanding bureau chief, Wael Dahdouh, was reporting when he obtained broadcast information that his spouse, daughter, son and grandson had been killed in Israeli air strikes.
In December, he was injured in an assault that additionally killed one other Al Jazeera cameraman, Samer Abudaqa.
In January, Mr. Dahedu’s son Hamza and video journalist Mustafa Turia had been killed in a strike whereas working for Al Jazeera. The Israel Protection Forces later claimed the lads had been “members of a terrorist group in Gaza”.
Al Jazeera has beforehand strongly denied Israel’s claims and accused it of systematically concentrating on its workers.
The community additionally condemned the Israeli authorities’s resolution in Could to ban the present from airing within the nation, saying it endangered nationwide safety. Final month, the Tel Aviv District Court docket prolonged the ban.
The United Nations has referred to as for a full investigation and accountability into the killings of Al Jazeera journalists and others, saying journalists all over the world have to be protected.
There are various statistics on the variety of media employees killed for the reason that unprecedented and lethal Hamas-led assault on Israel that sparked the warfare in Gaza.
Nevertheless, in response to Committee to Protect JournalistsThe most recent deaths in Gaza convey the variety of journalists killed to 113, together with 108 Palestinians, 3 Lebanese and a pair of Israelis killed within the October 7 assault.
