Al Jazeera cameraman Ahmed Wishah killed in Israeli strike on Bureij camp; IDF says he was Hamas

Attack on Bureij camp

An Israeli airstrike hit a house in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza on Saturday, killing Al Jazeera cameraman Ahmed Wishah. Al Jazeera reported the strike as one of several attacks that day that raised the death toll across the Gaza Strip to 10, according to local sources. The network condemned the killing as a "heinous crime", describing it as part of a systematic targeting of journalists.

“This constitutes a new and flagrant violation of all international laws and norms, and reflects a continued systematic policy of targeting journalists and silencing the voice of truth.”

Israeli military response

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed it carried out the strike but said Wishah was a Hamas operative.

“The IDF confirms it carried out a strike on Ahmed Wishah, who was a Hamas terrorist.”

No evidence was immediately provided, but the spokesperson said a statement with further details would be issued. The Israeli military has repeatedly denied deliberately targeting journalists, though it has claimed to have killed several militants who were posing as media professionals since the war began in October 2023.

A family targeted twice

Ahmed’s brother Mohammed Wishah, also an Al Jazeera journalist, was killed on 8 April this year when an Israeli drone struck his vehicle near Al-Rashid street west of Gaza City. Palestinian civil defence authorities said the missile hit the car, igniting a violent fire that killed him and another passenger instantly. Al Jazeera noted the family connection, highlighting the repeated targeting of journalists.

Broader toll on journalists

Since Israel’s war on Gaza began in October 2023, at least 260 Palestinian journalists have been killed, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Reporters Without Borders reported more than 220 killed, at least 70 of whom were killed while carrying out their professional duties. The killing of Ahmed Wishah adds to a mounting toll that has drawn international condemnation from media freedom groups.

A fragile ceasefire announced last October has failed to halt the violence; Israeli attacks have since killed over 1,000 people, the Gaza health ministry reports. The UN Commission of Inquiry has found that Israel has committed acts of genocide in Gaza.