By Mohammad Majid
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - One more Palestinian journalist was killed by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, the local authorities said on Monday.
The Government Media Office in Gaza issued a statement mourning photojournalist Ayman Ruwaished, who worked for the Al-Aqsa Satellite channel and was killed by the Israeli army but did not specify where he was killed in Gaza.
The statement urged the international community and international press groups to deter Israel and prosecute it in international courts for its crimes against Palestinians, particularly journalists.
Ruwaished's death brings the total number of journalists killed by Israel in Gaza since Oct. 7 of last year to 177, according to the media office.
Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7 last year, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.
Nearly 42,300 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 98,600 injured, according to local health authorities.
The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the Gaza Strip amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.
Mediation efforts led by the US, Egypt, and Qatar to reach a Gaza cease-fire and prisoner swap agreement between Israel and Hamas have failed over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s refusal to halt the war.
Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.
*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara