Gazans mourn journalists killed in Israeli strike as heavy bombardment continues

GAZA, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- Under the blazing midday sun, the narrow streets around the Al-Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City were filled with mourners on Monday as Palestinian journalists killed in an Israeli airstrike were carried to their final resting place.

The bodies, wrapped in shrouds and Palestinian flags, were lowered into the earth amid sobs, embraces, and whispered prayers. It was a day that combined unbearable personal loss with collective grief, coming after a night of unrelenting bombardment that shook the entire Gaza Strip.

Dozens of Palestinians, including fellow reporters and photographers, had gathered earlier in the hospital courtyard for funeral prayers. Among them were family members, colleagues, and residents who had followed the journalists' work for years.

The victims, Anas al-Sharif and Mohammed Qreiqeh, correspondents for Al Jazeera in Gaza City and northern Gaza, photojournalists Ibrahim Zaher and Momen Aliwa, assistant cameraman Mohammed Noufal, and local journalist Mohammed al-Khalidi, were killed late Sunday when an airstrike struck a tent they used as a workspace.

According to Gaza's civil defense authority, the blast set the tent ablaze, burning both the journalists' bodies and their equipment beyond recognition.

"It was a horrific scene. There was almost nothing left intact," Mahmoud Basal, the spokesperson of the civil defense, told Xinhua.

Local residents said the attack silenced six voices that had documented the war from its first days.

"They were our eyes and ears," said Om Nidal, a mother of four from Gaza City. "We saw them moving through the streets during bombardments, documenting our destroyed homes. Now they are gone, and it feels like we have lost part of our voice."

"The loss is unbearable," said Mohammed al-Khatib, a Gaza-based reporter who had worked alongside the victims. "They carried cameras, not weapons. Every day, they risked their lives to show the world the truth of what we live through here."

Wafaa Helles, a Palestinian journalist displaced from her home, said the deaths struck a deep chord within Gaza's media community.

"We know the dangers of reporting in war," she told Xinhua. "But losing six colleagues in one night feels like a message that even the press is not spared."

The Israeli army said on Sunday the strike had targeted al-Sharif, alleging he was a Hamas cell leader involved in planning rocket attacks.

Military officials claimed documents found in Gaza supported this, but Al Jazeera rejected the allegations in a statement, calling the incident "yet another blatant and premeditated attack on press freedom."

The network accused Israeli officials of incitement against its correspondents and said its staff were fulfilling their professional duty when killed.

Hamas condemned the attack, calling it "criminal terrorism" against media workers. Palestinian Authority official Hussein al-Sheikh described it as "a war crime and a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law."

The Hamas-run government media office in Gaza said the killings brought the total number of journalists killed in the enclave since the start of the conflict on Oct. 7, 2023, to 238.

The funerals came only hours after one of the heaviest nights of Israeli bombardment in recent weeks. Local sources reported dozens of airstrikes across Gaza City and Khan Younis, alongside artillery shelling in Shuja'iyya, al-Tuffah, and al-Zaytoun.

For displaced families, the night was filled with fear. "We could not sleep," said Nelly al-Masri, sheltering in central Gaza. "The explosions came from every direction. We didn't know if we would make it to morning." ■