Al Jazeera, media rights group RSF condemn killing of journalist in Israeli strike on Gaza

DOHA – Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera condemned the April 8 killing of one of its journalists in an Israeli strike on Gaza, calling the death “a deliberate and targeted crime”.

“Al Jazeera Media Network strongly condemns the heinous crime of targeting and killing Al Jazeera Mubasher correspondent Mohammed Wishah, following a strike on the vehicle in which he was travelling west of the Gaza Strip,” the network said in a statement.

The channel said it “affirms that his killing was not a random act but a deliberate and targeted crime intended to intimidate journalists”, adding it “holds Israeli occupation forces fully responsible”.

Media rights group Reporters Without Borders (RSF) echoed the condemnation, saying that Mr Wishah’s name joined “those of the more than 220 journalists killed in 2½ years by the Israeli forces in Gaza, at least 70 of whom were killed in the context of performing their duties”.

Gaza’s civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said Mr Wishah was killed with one other person.

“Two martyrs, one of them Al Jazeera correspondent Mohammed Wishah, were killed when occupation forces bombed a vehicle in the Sheikh Ajlin area, west of Gaza City,” Mr Bassal told AFP news agency.

The Israeli military on April 9 accused Mr Wishah of being a Hamas militant who had operated under the guise of a journalist.

The military said its forces had a day earlier “struck and eliminated” Mr Wishah, whom it described as “a key terrorist in Hamas’ rocket and weapons production headquarters, who had been planning terrorist attacks against IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldiers operating in the area”.

It said Mr Wishah had “operated under the guise of an Al Jazeera journalist, exploiting this identity in order to advance terrorist activities against” IDF and the state of Israel.

Al Jazeera listed Mr Wishah alongside 10 of its other journalists killed in Gaza since the Oct 7, 2023, attack by Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas that triggered the Gaza war.

Al Jazeera journalist Mohammad Salama was killed in August 2025 before the start of a fragile US-backed ceasefire that has been in place since October 2025 and has largely halted the war between Israel and Hamas.

In August 2025, four Al Jazeera staff and two freelancers were killed in an Israeli air strike outside Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, prompting widespread condemnation.

Israel and Hamas continue to accuse each other of violating the truce.

Israel has continued to carry out strikes in Gaza during the ceasefire, targeting what it says are Hamas militants.

In its statement, Al Jazeera said it would pursue “all necessary legal action to prosecute those responsible for the killing of its correspondents and staff in Gaza, and to seek justice for them and for all fallen journalists”. AFP