Israeli strikes kill five scribes in Gaza

Israel’s military targeted an Al Jazeera correspondent with an airstrike on Sunday, killing him and four other journalists in what press advocates described as a brazen assault on those documenting the war.

Officials at Shifa Hospital said those killed included Al Jazeera correspondents Anas al-Sharif and Mohamed Qreiqeh. The incident marked the first time during the war that Israel’s military has swiftly claimed responsibility after a journalist was killed in a strike.

A UN spokesperson said at least 242 journalists had been killed since the war began.

It came less than a year after Israeli army officials first accused al-Sharif and some other journalists of being members of the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

The boroadcaster called the strike a “targeted assassination” while press freedom groups denounced the rising death toll facing Palestinian journalists working in Gaza. Mourners laid the journalists to rest in Gaza City.

Israel repeated claims that al-Sharif led a Hamas cell — an allegation that Al Jazeera and al-Sharif have previously dismissed as baseless.

Israeli military spokesperson Avichay Adraee posted undated photos on X that appeared to show Al Sharif with Yahya Sinwar, the mastermind of the Hamas October 2023 attack on Israel, and other Hamas officials.

People gathered at Sheikh Radwan Cemetery in the heart of the Strip to mourn the journalists.

Elsewhere, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese added his country to a list moving toward recognition, along with France, Britain and Canada.

He said his government’s decision aimed to build momentum toward a two-state solution, which he called the best path to ending violence and bringing leadership other than Hamas to Gaza.

“The situation in Gaza has gone beyond the world’s worst fears,” he said. “The Israeli government continues to defy international law and deny sufficient aid, food and water to desperate people, including children.”

New Zealand said it would consider its position on recognition of a Palestinian state later this month.

French President Emmanuel Macron slammed Israel’s plans to step up its military operation as a disaster waiting to happen and proposed an international coalition under a United Nations mandate to stabilise Gaza. Macron said the UN mission would be tasked with securing the Gaza Strip, protecting civilians and working in support of unspecified governance.

Back in Gaza, Hospital officials reported that at least 34 people were killed on Monday, not including journalists who were slain in a tent shortly before midnight. Among the dead were at least 12 aid seekers killed by Israeli gunfire while trying to distribution points, or awaiting aid convoys.