Israel kills 2 more Palestinian journalists in Gaza, death toll rises to 231

By Ramzi Mahmud and Betul Yilmaz

GAZA CITY, Palestine / ISTANBUL (AA) – Two more Palestinian journalists were killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza, taking the death toll since October 2023 to 231, local authorities said on Wednesday.

In a statement, Gaza’s government media office said Tamer Al-Za’anin and Wala'a Ja'bari lost their lives to Israeli army fire, without giving details about the circumstances and location of their deaths.

Local media earlier reported that Al-Za'anin, a photojournalist, had been killed by Israeli forces in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, during a raid to detain Dr. Marwan Al-Hams, director of Gaza field hospitals.

Medical sources also told Anadolu that Ja’bari was killed, along with her husband and four children and her unborn baby, in a strike in eastern Gaza City on Wednesday.

The media office condemned Israel’s systematic assassination of Palestinian reporters in Gaza and called on human rights and media institutions to “condemn these systematic crimes against Gaza journalists.”

Israel has killed more than 59,200 Palestinians, most of them women and children, in the Gaza Strip since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave, collapsed the health system, and led to severe food shortages.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.