LONDON: An Israeli airstrike killed three journalists in Gaza on Wednesday, the territory’s civil defense agency said. Their deaths came as a report revealed the number of journalists imprisoned worldwide remains close to a record high.
The agency said the bodies of Mohammed Salah Qashta, Abdul Raouf Shaat and Anas Ghneim were taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir Al-Balah following the airstrike in Al-Zahra, southwest of Gaza City.
Shaat had regularly contributed photographs and video footage to Agence France-Presse, though he was not on assignment at the time, the news agency said.
The Israeli military said its troops had identified “several suspects who operated a drone affiliated with Hamas” in central Gaza and attacked them because of the threat they posed. The details were under review, it added.
An eyewitness said the journalists were using a drone to document the distribution of aid by the Egyptian Relief Committee in the Gaza Strip when a strike hit one of the committee’s vehicles.
