11/1/2024–|Last updated: 11/1/202401:44 PM (Mecca time)
The Israeli army admitted that it targeted the car of fellow journalist Hamza (son of Wael Al-Dahdouh, director of Al-Jazeera’s office in Gaza) and his colleague Mustafa Thuraya in Gaza – last Sunday – while they were performing a press mission in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, claiming that they were “racist terrorists.”
The occupation army claimed – on Wednesday evening – that these two journalists were flying drones in a way that posed a threat to the Israeli forces before the raid took place, according to its words.
The Israeli army said that it was “in the process of verifying” the type of drone and the nature of the threat posed by these two journalists.
He also claimed that Al-Dahdouh Jr. is a member of the Al-Quds Brigades, the military arm of the Islamic Jihad Movement, and that Thuraya is a member of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), claiming that he “found documents on the battlefield in Gaza” indicating the organizational structures of the Palestinian factions and in which the names of these two journalists were mentioned.
According to the occupation’s claim, “the documents indicate that Al-Dahdouh previously held the position of deputy faction commander in the Olive Brigade of Islamic Jihad, and that he currently holds the position of a regional official in the missile unit of (this) movement.”
Tel Aviv Tribune Media Network condemned the assassination of these two colleagues, and the serious injury of journalist Hazem Rajab, in an Israeli bombing north of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip.
In a statement, Tel Aviv Tribune Network said that the assassination of Al-Dahdouh and Soraya – who were on their way to perform their work in the Gaza Strip – reaffirms the necessity of taking all immediate and necessary legal measures against the occupation forces to ensure that there is no impunity.
The Israeli occupation forces systematically targeted our colleague Al-Dahdouh Sr. and his family. His wife, son, daughter, and grandson were martyred in November 2023. He and his colleague, the martyr photographer Samer Abu Daqqa, were also targeted in December 2023.