An Al Jazeera cameraman was killed in an Israeli airstrike in central Gaza on Saturday, the outlet said, less than three months after his brother, also an Al Jazeera journalist, was killed in a separate strike.
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Ahmed Washah, a cameraman for Al Jazeera Mubasher — the network’s Arabic-language live channel — died when an Israeli drone struck a home in the Bureij refugee camp, the outlet said in a statement. Two other people were also killed and others were wounded in the attack.
In a statement to NBC News, the Israel Defense Forces confirmed Washah was the target of the airstrike, claiming he was “a terrorist in Hamas’ military wing who served as a sniper operative.” They said he was eliminated alongside two additional Hamas terrorists.
Washah’s brother, Al Jazeera Mubasher correspondent Mohammed Washah, was killed on April 8 in an Israeli airstrike that hit his car in western Gaza City.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, the IDF said Mohammed Washah was the intended target of that strike. IDF spokesperson Avichay Adraee claimed that Mohammed Washah “was a senior figure within Hamas’ military wing.”
Al Jazeera has denied those claims and condemned Mohammed Washah’s killing, calling it an attempt by Israel to silence and intimidate journalists. A source close to Hamas also told the CPJ that the correspondent had no affiliation with the organization.
Al Jazeera says Ahmed Washah became the 13th network employee to be killed by Israel. He had covered numerous stories for the outlet, including what Al Jazeera described as “several massacres” committed by Israel in Gaza.
This most recent strike comes despite a purported ceasefire. While the most intense combat has subsided, Israeli forces have continued launching airstrikes and opening fire on Palestinians, leaving more than 1,000 people deadsince the ceasefire began in October, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. Israel and Hamas have accused each other for violating the truce and failing to uphold its terms.
