US State Department extends condolences over death of Anadolu cameraman in Gaza

By Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The US State Department extended its condolences to Anadolu for the killing of Montaser Al-Sawaf in an Israeli airstrike while he was reporting from Gaza, referring to the loss of journalists as a "tragedy."

"Let me first extend my condolences to you, to your entire organization and to, of course, his family," said Spokesman Matthew Miller, in response to Anadolu's question during his daily press briefing.

"We are always deeply saddened to learn of the death of any journalist. Secretary has spoken to this fact that journalists do extraordinary work under the most dangerous conditions," he said.

"That has been true in this conflict as it has been in so many conflicts before it, and is a tragedy that we have seen so many journalists die in this conflict," he said, "As that is a tragedy that we have seen thousands of other civilians die".

Regarding whether Israel might be deliberately targeting journalists to control information flow from Gaza, Miller said: "I don't have any information to suggest that the Israeli government is targeting journalists in this conflict."

"Secretary has made clear it's not just intent that matters, its results. And that's a conversation we're going to continue to have with them (Israel)," he added.

Montaser Al-Sawaf, an Anadolu freelance cameraman reporting in Gaza, was killed in Israeli airstrikes on Friday. The attack came one week after 45 members of his extended family, including his parents and brothers, were killed in a previous Israeli airstrike.

Blinken said last week that Israel has one of the most sophisticated militaries in the world and is capable of "neutralizing the threat posed by Hamas while minimizing harm to innocent men, women, and children".

At least 15,899 Palestinians have been killed and more than 42,000 others injured in relentless air and ground attacks on the enclave since Oct. 7 following a cross-border attack by Hamas.

When asked if the killing of thousands of civilians could have been prevented, Miller said that there are additional steps that Israel can take to minimize civilian casualties, adding that the US encouraged Israel to take those steps during their campaign in the south of Gaza.

"But I expect that this will continue to be an ongoing conversation. And as I said, we're going to monitor how this campaign proceeds as it does," he added.

However, Miller also said that the US has seen some “improvement” in terms of Israel narrowing targets as it expands its attacks into the south of Gaza.

The US has seen "a much more targeted request for evacuations" than in the operation in the north, Miller said, adding: “So that is an improvement on what’s happened before."