'War against the truth': Five Palestinian journalists killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza

In one of the deadliest nights for the press since the beginning of Israel's war on Gaza, five Palestinian journalists — including two women — were killed in a series of airstrikes that ripped through civilian neighbourhoods in the southern and central parts of the besieged enclave.

The journalists were killed alongside members of their families in strikes that targeted displacement tents and homes in Khan Younis, Deir al-Balah, and Gaza City, according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate (PJS).

The syndicate said in a press statement that the total number of media workers killed since October now exceeds 220; an unprecedented toll that Palestinian officials say reflects a "systematic targeting of Palestinian journalism."

The Gaza Ministry of Health reported that at least 110 Palestinians were killed overnight on Sunday, the highest death toll in weeks.

Survivors described scenes of devastation as airstrikes pulverised makeshift shelters and residential blocks, burying entire families under the rubble.

Among those killed was Ahmed al-Zinati, a well-known reporter who had spent the war chronicling Gaza's humanitarian collapse.

The Israeli army killed al-Zinati alongside his wife, Nour al-Madhoun, and their two young sons, Mohammed and Khaled, after attacking their tent where they had sought refuge in Al-Mawasi — a supposed "safe zone" west of Khan Younis.

Speaking to The New Arab, Mohammed Mohsen, a local journalist, said that Al-Zinati, displaced multiple times since the war began, had finally settled near the coast, hoping the beach might provide some protection.

"He always carried his camera, even when he had nothing else left," he added, "He wanted the world to see what we were living through."

In Deir al-Balah, the Israeli army also killed journalist Nour Qandil alongside her husband, journalist Khaled Abu Seif, and their daughter in a strike just before midnight.

Both had worked with local media outlets, documenting the harrowing conditions of Gaza's displaced.

The PJS said the couple were among the 'brave chroniclers of pain" who risked everything to reveal the truth.

"The direct targeting of their home proves that the killing machine does not differentiate between civilians and journalists," the syndicate said. "It seeks to silence every free voice, even if it requires killing an entire family."

Further north, in Bir al-Na’ja on the outskirts of Gaza City, Aziz al-Hajjar, a photojournalist known for capturing the impact of war on Gaza's children, was killed with his wife and children when an Israeli airstrike struck their home.

Al-Hajjar had worked for various local media agencies, dedicating his lens to those whose voices were often ignored.

Two days after contact with him was lost, the body of Abdul Rahman Tawfiq al-Abadlah was recovered from beneath the rubble of a flattened home in the town of al-Qarara, near Khan Younis, according to his family.

'Extermination of the Palestinian narrative'

Al-Abadlah, who worked in print media, had written extensively on the deteriorating health and environmental conditions in Gaza's eastern areas, now described as "unlivable."

"This is not collateral damage," the PJS said in a sharply worded statement. "This is a deliberate, systematic extermination of the Palestinian narrative."

The syndicate added that the killing of journalists "has exceeded all known figures in the modern era," calling on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue arrest warrants against Israeli officials accused of ordering or facilitating attacks on media workers.

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant are already wanted by the ICC for war crimes.

Tahsin al-Astal, deputy head of the Journalists Syndicate in Gaza, described the coordinated attacks as "a double massacre, one humanitarian, the other media-related."

"Israel is not just targeting homes," al-Astal told TNA. "It is targeting stories, cameras, and testimonies. This is a war against the truth and a war meant to erase every Palestinian voice that dares to document reality."

He added that the deliberate killing of journalists and their families amounts to "an attempt to exterminate Palestinian media and those who carry its message."

Since 7 October 2023, Israel's military offensive has killed more than 53,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, according to Gaza's health authorities.

The latest wave of air and ground assaults has deepened an already catastrophic humanitarian crisis, amid acute shortages of water, food, and medicine and a near-total collapse of the health system.

The attacks have also devastated Gaza's already fragile media sector. Many journalists, working without protective gear or institutional support, have become witnesses and victims of the conflict.

Palestinian and international media organisations condemned the killings and demanded protection for journalists under international law. In a defiant tone, the Journalists Syndicate vowed that "the blood of the martyrs will not be in vain."

"Palestinian journalists will continue their mission," the syndicate declared, "even if it requires each of them to carry their coffin on their back while covering the massacre."