Another Palestinian journalist killed in Gaza, death toll rises to 170

By Awad al-Rujoub

RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – One more Palestinian journalist was killed in an Israeli attack in Gaza City on Tuesday, bringing the overall death toll since last Oct. 7 to 170, local authorities said.

Gaza’s government media office identified the new victim as Hamza Mourtaja, without providing details about the circumstances of his death.

Medical sources said Mourtaja was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the Mustafa Hafez school that shelters hundreds of displaced civilians in western Gaza City.

At least 12 people were killed and dozens injured in the Israeli attack, the Civil Defense Agency said.

The media office called on the international community and press groups “to deter Israel and prosecute it before international courts for its crimes” against Palestinian civilians and journalists.

The new fatality brought the number of Palestinian journalists killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza to 170 since Oct. 7, 2023, according to Palestinian figures.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has continued its brutal offensive on Gaza since an attack last Oct. 7 by Palestinian resistance group Hamas.

The Israeli onslaught has since killed over 40,170 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured more than 92,740, according to local health authorities.

More than 10 months into the Israeli onslaught, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in the southern city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar