31 July 2024: An Israeli air strike near the house of Ismail Haniyeh in Gaza killed two journalists who were reporting on the Hamas leader’s assassination in Iran, reports Middle East Eye.
Ismail al-Ghoul, a journalist for Al Jazeera Arabic, and cameraman Rami al-Refee were killed in the strike near the Aidia area west of Gaza City.
Al Jazeera Arabic’s managing editor, Mohamed Moawad, confirmed their deaths on social media.
“Without Ismail, the world would not have seen the devastating images of these massacres,” he wrote on X, adding that he “relentlessly covered the events and delivered the reality of Gaza to the world through Al Jazeera”.
“His voice has now been silenced, and there is no longer a need to call out to the world. Ismail fulfilled his mission to his people and his homeland. Shame on those who have failed the civilians, journalists and humanity.”
Ismail Haniyeh was killed in an Israeli strike in Tehran on Wednesday, just hours after he attended the swearing-in ceremony for Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian.
This was the second high-profile Israeli assassination within hours, following a strike in Beirut that reportedly killed senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr, heightening fears that the region is sliding towards a full-blown war.
Israel has killed more than 160 journalists in Gaza since the beginning of the war in October 2023, according to Palestinian government officials.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said the war in Gaza was “the deadliest period for journalists since CPJ began gathering data in 1992”.
Over 39,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel’s war on Gaza started, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
