Israel

‘Israel’ has desperately been trying to hide its human rights abuses, war crimes, and crimes against humanity in Palestine from the world. It is too late for that. There is no unseeing what has already been seen. But the occupation’s crimes continue, so does the intentional killing of those who witness its atrocities and convey what has happened to others.

As of 30 September: 263 Palestinian journalists murdered by ‘Israel’ since 7 October 2023

According to the Gaza Government Media Office, the number of Palestinian journalists killed by the Israeli occupation has now risen to 263. This follows the killing of journalist Mohammed Abdul Aziz al Najjar, 38, on 30 September, in the Al Mawasi area of southern Gaza, northwest of Khan Yunis.

A producer and presenter for Holy Quran Radio, al Najjar also served as an imam. He was targeted by an ‘Israeli’ drone while producing a report on Quran memorisation. He leaves behind three children, who were unable to see their father for their final farewells, as his body was returned to his family without a head. The drone strike had decapitated him.

الله يرحمك يا بابا ثلاثة أطفال ينتظرون وداع والدهم الصحفي محمد النجار لكنه عاد إليهم شهيدًا بلا رأس بعدما حرمهم القصف من رؤيته وتوديعه مشهدٌ سيبقى محفورًا في قلوبهم طوال حياتهم. أيُّ ألمٍ أكبر من أن يفقد الطفل والده ثم يُحرم حتى من وداعه الأخير pic.twitter.com/251lnWVxvA

— عبدالله العطار abdallah alattar (@abdallahatar) September 30, 2026

Same old excuses from the Israeli occupation for their targeted assassinations of journalists

The IOF were quick to justify the killing of Palestinian journalist Al Najjar. Their excuse was the same one we hear again and again throughout ‘Israel’s’ genocide on Gaza- that he was a “member of Hamas’s military wing.” They also accused him of “infiltrating Israeli territory” on 7 October. And  pointed to a photograph which they claimed showed him on Israeli soil after Hamas breached the barrier separating Gaza from Israel.

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But there is something the occupation’s military has conveniently left out. Al Najjar, like every other Palestinian living in Gaza, had spent almost two decades living under a land, air and sea blockade imposed by ‘Israel’. Gaza is sealed off. People cannot simply leave and return as they may want to. They are trapped behind a barrier, that their occupier has erected, which has become a permanent part of their lives.

But on 7 October, this barrier was breached by Palestinian freedom fighters, for the first time. So, just because Al Najjar crossed it that day does not prove he was a “terrorist”. It proves that he crossed a barrier that had kept him and more than two million other Palestinians imprisoned in Gaza for too long.

No justice whatsoever for those whose loved ones have been assassinated by ‘Israel’

He was a journalist. His job was to be there, to witness what was happening. To film, document, and report on events. This is what journalists do. Showing a photograph of him at the scene of an unprecedented event and claiming he was a combatant is completely ridiculous.

Too often, the criminal ‘Israeli’ regime has killed a journalist and labelled them a “terrorist”. The label is then expected to serve as the justification for their killing. Words do not make evidence. And this is exactly why the circumstances surrounding his killing must to be questioned.

263 Palestinian journalists have been killed so far by the occupation, and the killing continues. ‘Israel’ has not been held accountable, not even once. It is time these journalist’s families receive justice for their losses, and the Israeli occupation is held to account for its war crimes.

Calling Al Najjar a “terrorist” does not make him one. And reporting from ‘Israel’ on 7 October does not make a journalist a combatant. He was there doing his job. This And is why the circumstances surrounding his killing deserve to be questioned rather than being accepted at face value.

‘Israel’ enjoys “full impunity” to breach supposed ceasefire whenever it wants

Abubaker Abed, a journalist from Gaza says the killing of Mohammed Al-Najjar is “another stain on journalism.”

“It is a continuation of the deliberate, systematic targeting of journalists in Gaza. But this time it is even worse. Its a supposed ceasefire, where Israel enjoys full impunity to breach it whenever it wants to. Mohammed wasn’t only a journalist. He was a father of three. He was the main provider for his family. They live in a tent. What’ll happen to them now? What will their lives be like? These are important questions that humanise us, and help the world understand the reality of Gaza’s reporters.”

“On 30 September, Gaza’s Ministry of Health reported that nine bodies reached hospitals during the previous 24 hours. The Ministry recorded eight as newly killed in ‘Israeli’ attacks across Gaza that day, and one as a woman who died from wounds sustained earlier. It also recorded 31 new injuries. Al-Najjar was among the dead.

In the early hours of the morning, an ‘Israeli’ airstrike targeted an apartment block near Al-Shifa Hospital in western Gaza City. 21 year old Iman Abdul Aal was killed, and her husband was critically injured. Israeli occupation forces (IOF) said the intended target was a “Hamas terrorist”. It accused him of planning attacks against the occupation’s military. But, unsurprisingly, no evidence was given and the alleged target was not publicly identified.

Bilal Mahmoud Suleiman al-Sumairi, 33, was killed near the Al-Matahin intersection in the town of Al-Qarara, north of Khan Yunis. An ‘Israeli’ drone struck a gathering of civilians there. It killed al-Sumairi and wounded two other Palestinians, including a girl.

In Tel al-Hawa, southwest Gaza City, six Palestinians were killed when an ‘Israeli’ drone attacked a civilian vehicle. According to witnesses, the drone fired at least two missiles at the car, killing its occupants immediately.

The death toll for the attack had risen to six dead and 15 injured by the end of the day.

Israeli occupation wiped out 22 members of Ammar al Sharafi’s family in 2023, this time they targeted and killed him

One of the Palestinians assassinated by ‘Israel’ in the vehicle attack was Ammar Mahmoud Muhammad al-Sharafi, 40. He was accused by the IOF, with no evidence whatsoever, of being a “Hamas commander”.

Ammar was the brother of Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent Moamen al-Sharafi. Moamen had reported on ‘Israel’s’ strike on the vehicle that day, unaware at the time that his brother was one of those who was blown to pieces.

In December 2023, ‘Israel’ wiped out 22 members of the brother’s family. An “explosive barrel” hit the home in which they were sheltering, in the Jabalia refugee camp, in northern Gaza. It exploded with such force that a deep crater was made in the ground.

According to the Ministry of Health, as of 1 October 2026, 74,040 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, and 175,168 have been injured, since 7 October 2023. 1439 of these have been killed, and 5052 injured, since the so-called ceasefire supposedly came into effect on 11 October 2025. During this time, of almost a year, ‘Israel’ has also violated the ceasefire agreement more than 5000 times. No action has been taken to change anything.

For the families of those killed, the day did not end with a casualty figure, but with another person gone and another family having to live with the loss. In Gaza, where so many people have been killed over the past three years, names can quickly disappear into daily figures unless they are recorded and remembered.

Abed also sees a failure to properly acknowledge those reporting from the Strip:

“Western mainstream media journalists are culpable. They’re liable for this murder and others. They continue to manufacture consent for Israel to continue the killings daily. This is why the genocide has long continued. 263 journalists in Gaza killed, barely honoured or identified by Western mainstream journalists. It’s unfair in every sense of life. It’s horrific and barbaric. This is what the world has allowed. And the world will continue to stand by as Israel hunts down more journalists in Gaza. History will never forgive or forget. Accountability is inevitable, if not now, in the hereafter.”

Featured image via the Canary

By Charlie Jaay

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