Gaza/Tel Aviv, Dec. 16, (dpa/GNA) – The Qatari-based Al Jazeera television news channel said on Sunday evening that a cameraman working for it and five employees of the Palestinian civil defence force were killed in an Israeli air raid in the central section of the Gaza Strip.
The channel cited rescue workers and local journalists. The Israeli military, however, spoke of the killing of a “terrorist.” Neither side’s information could be independently verified.
The cameraman, Ahmed al-Louh, was killed on Sunday while working in the refugee quarter of Nuseirat, according to the Al-Jazeera report. He was wearing his press armoured vest and a helmet.
For its part, the Israeli military announced on Sunday evening that its air force had carried out “a precise strike on Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists,” who had been operating out of a command and control centre located in the civil defence offices in Nuseirat. The command centre was used by the terrorists to plan an attack on Israeli troops, the military said.
Among those killed was “Islamic Jihad terrorist Ahmed Bakr al-Lawh,” the Israeli military said. In the run-up to the attack, numerous measures were taken to reduce the risk to civilians, the military announced on its Telegram channel.
The Al Jazeera media network called on human rights and media organizations to “condemn the Israeli Occupation’s systematic killing of journalists in cold blood.” Those responsible must be held to account, it said. The broadcaster has already lost several employees in attacks during the Gaza war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accuses Al Jazeera of being a “Hamas mouthpiece.” His government closed the broadcaster’s office in Israel in May. Al Jazeera, which is based in the Gulf emirate of Qatar, rejects the accusation of bias.
GNA