By Abdul Salam Fayez
GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - A Palestinian television presenter and journalist was killed Tuesday in an Israeli air raid on the Gaza Strip, pushing the death toll of press members targeted by Israel since Oct. 7 to 133, said officials and state media.
Muhammad Salama, who worked for the Palestinian Al Aqsa channel, was killed along with his entire family when Israeli warplanes targeted his home in the city of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, the Gaza Media Office said in a statement.
The office accused the Israeli army of killing Palestinian journalists in order to “obliterate the truth."
Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed at least 30,631 people and injured 72,043 others with mass destruction and shortages of necessities.
The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.
Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio