Gaza Genocide13 June, 20263 min read
Israeli Strike Kills Three Palestinian Journalists In Gaza’s Al-Zahra, Israeli Army Targets Drone Operators
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Three Palestinian journalists were killed in Gaza by an Israeli strike. Israel says it struck three suspects maneuvering a drone.
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Journalists killed in Gaza
An Israeli strike killed three Palestinian journalists in the al-Zahra area in the center of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, with the Israeli army saying it targeted the operators of a drone deemed suspicious. Le Devoir identified the three killed journalists as Anas Ghneim, Mohammed Salah Qashta, and Abdoul Raouf Shaath, and said Civil Defense stated the deaths occurred in the strike. France 24 also said Civil Defense announced the death of three journalists in an Israeli strike in the center of the Palestinian territory, and that the bodies were transferred to the Martyrs of al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah.
The Israeli army said it struck three “suspects” maneuvering a drone, and AFP reported a witness saying the journalists were using a drone to film a humanitarian aid distribution run by the Egyptian Relief Committee when a vehicle accompanying them was struck. Hamas, which has ruled the Gaza Strip since 2007, denounced the killings as a “war crime,” while AFP demanded a full and transparent investigation into the circumstances of Abdoul Raouf Shaath’s death.
Ceasefire deaths and blame
As the ceasefire declared months ago remained in effect, Al Jazeera said Israeli attacks continued to kill Palestinians in Gaza, reporting that Gaza’s Health Ministry put the total at at least 983 Palestinians killed and 3,122 injured since the ceasefire was declared. Al Jazeera quoted Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem saying, “Israeli actions reflect its unwillingness to implement the ceasefire agreement and aim to blow up the negotiation track and thwart the efforts being made, while continuing escalation to serve political and electoral considerations,” on Friday. In the same broader dispute over responsibility for strikes, Le Devoir reported that the Israeli army said it targeted three 'suspects' operating a drone affiliated with Hamas, while a witness told AFP the journalists were filming a humanitarian aid distribution run by the Egyptian Relief Committee.
Le Devoir also said Hamas did not claim any affiliation between the three men and the movement, as it usually does when one of its members is killed, and that the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate condemned the attack as an “Israel policy that is systematic and deliberate” to intentionally target Palestinian journalists. France 24 described the Israeli army’s rationale as “Due to the threat the drone posed to the troops,” the forces “precisely struck the suspects who had activated it,” while Civil Defense spoke of a drone strike on 'a civilian vehicle'.
Wider toll and media targeting
Beyond the Gaza Strip’s journalist deaths, Agence Media Palestine said the Stop Murdering Journalists site counted 318 journalists and media professionals killed by Israel in Gaza since October 7, 2023, and 21 in Lebanon. Agence Media Palestine also reported that three Lebanese journalists were killed in their own country while performing their duties on March 28 by an Israeli strike that targeted their car in the Jezzine region in southern Lebanon, naming Fatima Ftouni of Al-Mayadeen, her brother Mohammed Ftouni, and Al-Manar’s star correspondent Ali Shoieb. In Gaza, Le Devoir said the toll for press deaths had reached “More than 220 journalists have been killed,” and added that Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said Israeli forces killed at least 29 Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip between December 2024 and December 2025.
Le Devoir further tied the deaths to the ongoing war that began with Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and said the fragile ceasefire in Gaza has been marred by daily shootings while the humanitarian situation remains critical. Agence Media Palestine quoted French journalist Jack Dion saying, “Even if these journalists were linked in some way to Hamas or Hezbollah, that does not give the right to kill them; in international law that does not exist,” as he denounced what he called the repetition of the Israeli narrative in French media.