Israeli strike kills three Gaza journalists including AFP freelancer

AFP: An Israeli air strike killed an AFP freelancer and two other journalists in Gaza on Wednesday, the territory’s civil defence agency said, while the military said it struck “suspects” operating a drone.

Since October 10, a fragile US-sponsored ceasefire in Gaza has largely halted the fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas, but both sides have alleged frequent violations.

In a statement, the civil defence said “the bodies of the three journalists killed in an Israeli air strike in the Al-Zahra area southwest of Gaza City were transported to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah”.

It named the dead as Mohammed Salah Qashta, Abdul Raouf Shaat and Anas Ghneim.

Shaat had contributed regularly to AFP as a photo and video journalist, but at the time of the strike, he was not on assignment for the agency.

In a statement, the Israeli military said troops had “identified several suspects who operated a drone affiliated with Hamas in the central Gaza Strip”.

The military did not elaborate on what it meant by a “drone affiliated with Hamas”.

“Due to the threat that the drone posed to the troops, the (Israeli military) precisely struck the suspects who activated the drone,” it said, adding that the details were under review.

The civil defence, which operates as a rescue force under Hamas authority, said in an earlier statement that an Israeli drone strike had targeted “a civilian vehicle” near Al-Zahra.

Vehicle ‘criminally targeted’

According to an eyewitness, the journalists were using a drone to take images of aid distribution by the Egyptian Relief Committee in the Gaza Strip when a strike targeted a vehicle accompanying them.

The Egyptian aid group confirmed one of its vehicles was targeted by Israel in a strike that killed three people.

“A vehicle belonging to the Egyptian Committee was targeted during a humanitarian mission, resulting in the martyrdom of three individuals,” said Mohammed Mansour, a spokesman for the Egyptian Relief Committee in the Gaza Strip, adding that all vehicles belonging to the group “bear the committee’s logo”.

“The Israeli army criminally targeted this vehicle” when the individuals were filming the Netzarim camp, Mansour said.

AFP footage showed the vehicle charred, with mangled remains lying in an open area.

Hamas called the strike “a dangerous escalation of the flagrant violations of the ceasefire agreement.”

The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate, meanwhile, condemned the strike as part of a “systematic and deliberate policy pursued by the Israeli occupation to intentionally target Palestinian journalists”.

Israeli forces have killed at least 466 Palestinians in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect, according to the territory’s health ministry.

The Israeli military said Palestinian fighters killed three of its soldiers during the same period.

Gaza’s health ministry said another eight Palestinians were also killed in Israeli attacks in the territory on Wednesday.

Journalists under fire

Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said that Israeli forces killed at least 29 Palestinian journalists in Gaza between December 2024 and December 2025.

The deadliest single attack was a so-called “double-tap” strike on a hospital in south Gaza on August 25, which killed five journalists, including two contributors to international news agencies Reuters and the Associated Press.

Since Hamas’s attack on Israel in October 2023 sparked the war in Gaza, nearly 220 journalists have been killed by Israel, making the Palestinian territory by far the deadliest place for journalists, RSF data says.

The Israeli military claims that several journalists it targeted in Gaza had been “terrorists” affiliated with Palestinian armed groups.

Last week, US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff announced the start of phase two of the Gaza ceasefire, saying it aimed to pave the way for reconstruction and the demilitarisation of all armed factions in the territory.

The strike on Wednesday came hours after the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced he had accepted an invitation to join US President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace” aimed at resolving conflicts.