Israel-Hamas war: Health ministry in Gaza says two journalists killed in Israeli strike

The health ministry in the Gaza Strip said on Sunday (Jan 7) that two journalists were killed in an Israeli air strike in the war-torn region as the conflict between Israel and Hamas escalates. According to the health ministry and medics, Mustafa Thuria, a video stringer for AFP news agency, and Hamza Wael Dahdouh, a journalist with Al Jazeera television network, were killed while they were travelling in a car.

Hamza's father Wael al-Dahdouh is Al Jazeera's bureau chief in the Gaza Strip and was also recently wounded in a strike, AFP reported. He was wounded after his wife and two children were killed by a separate Israeli strike in the initial weeks of the war which started on Oct 7 last year. Thuria, meanwhile, joined AFP in 2019.

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In a statement, Hamas' media office condemned the killings. "We condemn this heinous crime committed by the Israeli occupation army in a bid to intimidate and prevent media coverage," it said.

77 journalists killed since the war started

According to the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, by Dec 31 last year, at least 77 journalists and media workers had been killed since the war started on Oct 7. Among the 77 killed, 70 were Palestinians, four Israelis, and three Lebanese.

The death toll in Gaza Strip has climbed to 22,835 with 113 people killed in the last 24 hours, the health ministry claimed on Sunday. A total of 58,416 people had been wounded during the three months of fighting.

On Saturday, the Israeli army said that it "dismantled" Hamas' military leadership in northern Gaza, adding its forces killed more "terrorists" in central Gaza, including in a drone strike in the Bureij refugee camp, a built-up urban area.

An early morning Israeli strike in Jenin killed six Palestinians, while an Israeli border police officer died when a roadside bomb hit her vehicle Sunday, AFP reported.

(With inputs from agencies)