Fellow journalists mourn over the body of Hamza Wael Dahdouh, a journalist with the Al Jazeera television network, who was killed in a reported Israeli air strike during his funeral in Rafah in the Gaza Strip on Jan. 7, 2024. (Credit: AFP)
BEIRUT — The Israeli army targeted a tent sheltering journalists at al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Central Gaza on Monday, the Middle East Eye (MEE) reported.
The strike killed journalist Haydar Ibrahim al-Msaddar and left several others wounded.
Msaddar, a media researcher specializing in media affairs, according to local authorities, is the 163rd journalist killed in Gaza since the war between Israel and Hamas began on Oct. 7, according to local authorities.
According to his friend and fellow journalist Islam Bader, Msaddar had specialized in the study of propaganda and public opinion.
"All the contents in the tent are journalistic equipment," Youssef al-Hindi, a rescue worker who attended the scene after hearing the explosion, told MEE.
Hindi and Dr. Khalil al-Dakran suggested the tent was deliberately targeted, highlighting the repeated attacks on hospital grounds.
"This shows the continuation of the genocide and the massacres in the Gaza Strip," Dakran told MEE. "That is very dangerous because hospitals are providing health services while citizens are being targeted."
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has documented a lower overall toll of 108 journalist casualties during the war, with the majority (103) being Palestinian journalists, along with two Israelis and three Lebanese journalists. However, the CPJ noted that the war in Gaza was "the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992," as reported by the Middle East Eye.
The health ministry in Gaza has reported that over 39,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of Israel's military operations in the region.
Hospitals in Gaza have been repeatedly targeted by the Israeli military, with those that remain functional operating at limited capacity.
