Israeli strike kills Gaza journalist Muhammad Salama and his family

Palestinian journalist Muhammad Salama was killed on Tuesday in an Israeli air strike, the Gaza Media Office has said, in the latest targeting of media workers in the enclave.

Salama, a TV presenter for the Palestinian Al Aqsa channel, was killed along with his family after Israeli warplanes targeted their home in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza.

His killing raises the death toll from Israeli bombing, shelling, and shooting to 133 since 7 October, according to Gaza authorities.

The Gaza Media Office accused the Israeli army of killing Palestinian journalists to "obliterate the truth".

Journalists in Gaza face lethal danger covering Israel's assault, while also living under airstrikes, siege, and harassment by Israeli forces.

In November, Israeli bombing killed the wife, daughter, son, and grandson of Al Jazeera's Gaza Bureau chief Wael Dahdouh. A strike on a vehicle in January killed Dahdouh's son Hamza, also a journalist.

The army told agencies Reuters and AFP in October that it could not guarantee the safety of their journalists operating in the Gaza Strip, after they had sought assurances that Israel would not target their reporters.

The Lebanese journalists syndicate is taking Israel to the International Criminal Court for the killing of media workers in its war on Gaza and Lebanon ⬇https://t.co/g3mAH4oQDh

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) March 5, 2024

"Palestinians journalists are largely confined to reporting where they reside — often the sites of major violence,"  the Committee to Protect Journalists said.

"They are often early on the scene to cover Israeli military operations in their towns and cities, serving as the first eyes and ears on events that quickly become world news."

The CPJ is investigating reports of other journalists being killed, missing, detained, hurt, or threatened and of damage to media offices and journalists' homes.