Is Israel Directly Targeting Journalists In Gaza?

“It was not random, but direct targeting on purpose. Fadi was wearing his press uniform.”

By Kavitha Chekuru, The Intercept

Over four days this week, the Israeli military killed two journalists and severely injured at least three others. The attacks are part of the harrowing toll taken on Gaza’s press corp since the military began its all-out assault on the Palestinian territory just over a year ago.

On Wednesday, as Israel intensified its attacks on the northern Gaza Strip, the military attacked the Jabaliya refugee camp, killing Mohamed al-Tanani, a cameraman for Al-Aqsa TV, and injured his colleague Tamer Labad. Fadi al-Hawidi, a cameraman for Al Jazeera Arabic, was shot in the neck and, according to other journalists in Gaza, is now permanently paralyzed due to his injuries.

the funeral for a journalist who was killed in Gaza

The assault on Jabaliya came as the Israeli military laid a siege that saw attacks on hospitals, homes, and other civilian areas. The entire northern region of Gaza was put under evacuation orders by the Israelis, with the military directing civilians to flee to areas already overcrowded in the south.

The journalists were covering the siege and the ill-fated attempts by civilians to flee on Wednesday when they were attacked. Witnesses said the journalists were targeted. Like other Palestinian journalists who have been killed and injured in Gaza, al-Hawidi was wearing a flak jacket with the word “PRESS” clearly visible on it.

“It was not random, but direct targeting on purpose,” journalist Hossam Shabat, who had been with al-Hawidi and other reporters in Jabaliya on Wednesday, told The Intercept. “Fadi was wearing his press uniform which distinguishes him from the residents as a journalist.”