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Funeral of Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abudaqa in Khan Yunis
Photo: Mustafa Thraya / dpa
According to Al Jazeera, an Israeli drone strike in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip killed a journalist from the TV channel on Friday. The Qatar-based broadcaster has now announced that it intends to take the case to the International Criminal Court and describes the death of the cameraman as a "murder".
Samer Abudaqa was seriously injured in the attack while working with Al Jazeera correspondent Wael al-Dahdu, who is well-known in the Arab world, and died a short time later, the TV station said. The two reporters reported on the bombing of a school in the southern Gaza Strip that was used as a shelter for refugees from the northern part of the territory. Due to the ongoing bombardment, rescue workers were initially unable to reach Abudaqa – in the end, they were only able to recover his body, it was said.
Since the beginning of the Gaza war, 63 journalists have been killed, according to the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Among them are 56 Palestinians, four Israelis and three Lebanese, the NGO said on Friday. Journalists in the Gaza Strip are at risk because of the devastating airstrikes, disrupted communications, supply shortages and power outages.
Meanwhile, in East Jerusalem, there was an incident in which Israeli security forces allegedly wounded a journalist. A video circulated on social media on Friday showing the photographer being attacked by security forces. Initially, there was no official information from the authorities. "We are shocked by the violent attack on the member of our organization," the Union of Israeli Journalists said on X, formerly Twitter.
czl/dpa/Reuters