Jerusalem: Israel announced on Tuesday that it had killed an Al Jazeera employee in the Gaza Strip, accusing the journalist, Hussam Shabat, of being a "sniper terrorist" for Hamas. The Qatar-based network reported that Shabat was killed on Monday in an Israeli strike on his vehicle in northern Gaza. Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned the attack as part of a "massacre of journalists" in the Palestinian territory.
A joint statement from the Israeli military and Shin Bet internal security agency claimed that forces had "eliminated… a sniper terrorist from the Beit Hanun Battalion of the Hamas terrorist organisation, who was also employed as a journalist by Al Jazeera." Gaza’s civil defence agency stated that Shabat was killed when an Israeli drone strike targeted his car on Monday afternoon near a petrol station in the northern town of Beit Lahia.
The Israeli statement alleged that security forces had "in October 2024… exposed the terrorist’s direct affiliation with the military wing of the Hamas terrorist organisation." Jonathan Dagher, head of RSF’s Middle East desk, countered these claims, stating that the accusations from last year "can in no way justify his murder, as they are based on documents that in no way constitute that the journalist had any affiliation" with Hamas’s armed wing.
According to the Israeli statement, "internal Hamas documents" allegedly proved that Shabat had participated in military training conducted by the militant group’s Beit Hanun Battalion in 2019. Al Jazeera confirmed Shabat’s death in a statement, describing him as "a journalist collaborating with Al Jazeera Mubasher" who was "martyred in an Israeli strike targeting his car in the northern Gaza Strip."
RSF condemned the "targeted Israeli strike" that killed Shabat, calling him "one of Gaza’s best-known journalists." The media watchdog noted that it had previously "warned that the Al Jazeera reporter and his colleagues were at high risk of assassination." Dagher added, "This all-too-familiar pattern fuels the unprecedented massacre of journalists happening in Gaza." RSF stated that the Israeli army was "already responsible for the deaths of nearly 200 journalists in 15 months, including at least 43 killed while working."
Israel resumed intense air strikes across the densely populated Gaza Strip last week, followed by ground operations, breaking the relative calm established by a January ceasefire agreement with Hamas. The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza reported on Tuesday that 792 people had been killed since Israel resumed bombardments on March 18, including 62 in the past 24 hours.
Israel has repeatedly accused Al Jazeera reporters in Gaza of being "terrorist operatives" affiliated with militant groups and has suspended the network’s broadcasts. Al Jazeera denies these accusations, asserting that Israel systematically targets its staff in Gaza.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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