The family of an Al Jazeera correspondent in the Gaza Strip received a threatening phone call purporting to come from the Israeli military, warning them to immediately leave their home as Israel steps up its bombing of the besieged enclave.
Youmna ElSayed’s husband received the call on Monday and was told to flee Gaza City and head south, even though there is no safe route out of the area.
ElSayed said the phone call came from a private number. “The caller addressed my husband giving him his full name and said, ‘It’s the Israeli army, we’re telling you to evacuate to the south because in the coming hours it’s going to be very dangerous in the area you are in,'” she said, with the sound of explosions ringing out all around her.
According to the correspondent, seven families, or around a hundred people, currently live in the building, but only hers has been contacted. “None of the other six families received a warning call from the Israeli army, as we did, so it was a direct threat only to us, to our family. »
ElSayed said it was too “risky” to flee amid intense Israeli bombardment that has intensified as Israel deepens its ground offensive inside the Gaza Strip. On Monday, Israeli tanks reached the outskirts of Gaza City and briefly cut off the main road connecting the northern Gaza Strip to the south.
“I don’t know how safe it would be to take our car and go and drive under this intense bombardment. It’s very risky, it doesn’t seem safe at all,” ElSayed said, adding that continued bombing in the south offers no guarantee that people traveling there will be safe.
The Israeli military has in recent weeks warned the 1.1 million residents of northern Gaza, including Gaza City, to evacuate the south as it steps up attacks following a surprise attack by Hamas, the group that controls the strip, in Israel more than three weeks ago. . However, residents say nowhere is safe and there are no safe routes to evacuate as the heaviest bombing in recent memory continues.
In a statement, Al Jazeera said it “condemns the Israeli threat” to ElSayed and his family.
“This vile threat comes just days after the indiscriminate killing of the family of Al Jazeera Arab journalist Wael al-Dahdouh, who was invited to move south before being bombed,” he said. he adds.
On Tuesday, an Israeli attack killed Dahdouh’s wife, Amna, 44; his 16-year-old son, Mahmoud; his seven-year-old daughter, Sham; and his grandson, Adam.
Meanwhile, at least 29 journalists have been killed since the start of the war: 24 Palestinians, four Israelis and one Lebanese, according to a tally by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
“Israel’s actions continue with impunity as they attempt to silence the messenger,” the Al Jazeera statement said. “Al Jazeera strongly condemns these acts of violence and calls on international institutions to intervene and protect journalists and all innocent civilians. »
Commenting on the phone call received by ElSayed’s family, Sherif Mansour, Middle East and North Africa program coordinator at CPJ, said his organization was “extremely alarmed.”
“Many Palestinian journalists took a lot of risks to cover their reports from Gaza,” Mansour told Al Jazeera.
“They face exponential risks and have already paid a heavy price. Many of them have lost colleagues, media facilities, families and had to flee in search of safety when there is no shelter or way out.
Khadija Patel, president of the International Press Institute, also called the threat a “very worrying” development.
“This is an indication of deliberate targeting of journalists, which concerns us as part of a trend we are seeing in this conflict,” she told Al Jazeera.
“We want to… urge Israeli forces to protect the lives and work of journalists in this war. »
Israeli bombings have killed at least 8,306 Palestinians in Gaza since October 7. In Israel, more than 1,400 people were killed in the Hamas attack.