CAIRO, April 8 (Reuters) – Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip killed four people on Wednesday, including an Al Jazeera journalist, local health authorities said and the Qatari television network reported.
The strike that killed Al Jazeera’s Muhammad Washah targeted a vehicle he and one other Palestinian, who was also killed, were driving along the coastal road in Gaza City, health authorities said.
In February 2024, at the height of Israel’s war in Gaza, the military accused Washah of being a member of Hamas’ military wing. It released photos that it said showed him operating weapons systems. It said it found the photos on a computer that it said troops had confiscated during a raid in Gaza.
At the time, Hamas and Al Jazeera denied that Washah had any affiliation with the group. Israel’s military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his killing.
Al Jazeera, which also did not immediately respond to a request for comment, reported on its Arabic-language TV channel that he was killed in a drone strike.
The Hamas-run government media office in Gaza condemned Washah’s killing.
TWO OTHERS KILLED IN GAZA
In a separate incident in Gaza, medics said an Israeli airstrike killed two people in the central Gaza Strip, without providing details. There was no immediate comment from Israel’s military on the incident.
Israel and Hamas reached a U.S.-brokered deal last October that was meant to halt violence in the Palestinian territory. Both sides accuse each other of breaching the agreement.
Israeli fire has killed at least 700 people since the deal was struck. Israel says four soldiers have been killed by militants during the same period.
Israel has previously killed Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza and in the occupied West Bank.
In August 2025, Al Jazeera journalist Anas Al Sharif was killed along with four other colleagues in an Israeli airstrike. Citing intelligence and documents that it did not disclose, the military alleged he headed a Hamas militant cell, allegations Al Jazeera rejected.
In May 2022, Israeli troops shot dead Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, a U.S.-Palestinian citizen, while she was covering a military operation in the West Bank city of Jenin. The military said an investigation into that incident concluded she was likely killed by unintentional fire by its forces.
The Committee to Protect Journalists has said it has documented 223 journalists and media workers killed in Gaza, Lebanon and Israel. Among those killed were journalists working for Reuters.
The count includes 210 Palestinians killed by Israel in Gaza, 11 killed by Israel in Lebanon, and two Israelis killed in the Hamas-led attack of October 2023 that started the Gaza war, according to the CPJ.
The CPJ says Israel has never held anyone accountable in the killings of journalists by its military. An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said the military has targeted only combatants and military sites, avoided civilians and journalists, and warned that staying in active combat zones carries inherent risks despite efforts to minimize harm.
The military has alleged at times, without providing verifiable evidence, that some journalists were killed because of their links to Hamas, which their news organisations denied.
(Reporting by ReutersEditing by Rod Nickel)
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