Three Journalists Among 11 Palestinians Killed in Gaza as Ceasefire Strains
Hospitals in Gaza have reported that Israeli forces killed at least eleven Palestinians on Wednesday, including three journalists and two thirteen-year-old boys, in the latest violence that threatens to undermine a fragile three-month-old ceasefire. The incidents mark a significant escalation in tensions, with Palestinian health officials detailing separate strikes that resulted in multiple fatalities across the region.
Journalists Targeted While on Humanitarian Mission
According to Palestinian health officials, an Israeli airstrike killed three Palestinian journalists who were travelling in a car to film a newly established displacement camp in the Netzarim area of central Gaza. The journalists were identified as Mohammed Salah Qashta, Abdul Raouf Shaat, and Anas Ghneim. The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate stated that the reporters "were carrying out a humanitarian, journalistic mission to film and document the suffering of civilians."
Local sources indicated that their work was sponsored by the Egyptian Relief Committee, which oversees Egypt's relief operations in Gaza. Mohammed Mansour, a spokesperson for the committee, confirmed that the vehicle was known to the Israeli military. Video footage circulating online showed a burned-out vehicle by the roadside, with smoke still rising from the wreckage and debris scattered across the ground.
Medical officials reported that the bodies of two journalists were taken to al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, while the third was transferred to al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital. Abdul Raouf Shaat was a regular contributor to Agence France-Presse as a photo and video journalist, although the agency clarified he was not on assignment at the time of the strike.
Separate Incidents Claim Young Lives
In separate incidents on the same day, two boys aged thirteen were killed in different parts of Gaza. In one strike, a boy, his father, and a twenty-two-year-old man were hit by Israeli drones on the eastern edge of the Bureij refugee camp, according to officials at al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, which received the bodies.
In another case, a thirteen-year-old boy named Moatsem al-Sharafy was shot dead by Israeli troops while collecting firewood in the eastern town of Bani Suheila, as reported by Nasser hospital. Footage shared online showed the boy's father weeping over his body on a hospital bed. His mother, Safaa al-Sharafy, told the Associated Press that her son had gone out to gather firewood so she could cook, saying, "He went out in the morning, hungry. He told me he'd go quickly and come back."
Israeli Military Response and Broader Context
The Israeli military stated it ordered the strike after its soldiers had "identified several suspects who operated a drone affiliated with Hamas" in central Gaza. "Following the identification and due to the threat that the drone posed to the troops, the IDF precisely struck the suspects who activated the drone," it said, adding that the details of the incident were under examination.
Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders highlighted that Israeli forces killed at least twenty-nine Palestinian journalists in Gaza between December 2024 and December 2025, and that nearly two hundred and twenty journalists have died since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023. Other groups have put the toll even higher, underscoring the severe risks faced by media personnel in the conflict zone.
Since the ceasefire took effect in October, Israeli forces have killed at least four hundred and sixty-six Palestinians in Gaza, according to health authorities. This latest violence raises serious concerns about the sustainability of the ceasefire and the ongoing humanitarian impact on civilians in the region.
