The attack took place in the center of the Palestinian enclave; the Israeli army claims to have targeted the "suspect" operators of a drone "affiliated with Hamas."

A regular contributor to AFP was among the victims. Three journalists were killed on Wednesday, January 21, in the central Gaza Strip by an Israeli airstrike. The Israeli army stated that it had targeted the operators of a drone deemed suspicious. The attack took place in the al-Zahra area, according to a statement from the Civil Defense, a first aid organization operating under the control of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

The three men have been identified as Anas Ghneim, Mohamed Salah, and Abdoul Raouf Shaath (also spelled Shaat). The latter, a 34-year-old freelance photojournalist, had been a regular contributor to AFP since the evacuation of the agency's journalists from Gaza in early 2024. "It is with immense sadness that we learned of Abdoul's death," Agence France-Presse said in a statement.

The report states that "his colleagues remember him as a generous man with a deep commitment to journalism." AFP "demands a full and transparent investigation into the circumstances of his death," noting that "too many local journalists have been killed in Gaza over the past two years, while free access for foreign journalists remains impossible."

A fragile truce has been in place in Gaza between Israel and Hamas since October 10, with both sides accusing each other of violating it. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, which is under Hamas control, eight more Palestinians were killed there on Wednesday in Israeli airstrikes.

A strike in a "humanitarian zone," according to a witness

Regarding the strike that killed the AFP contributor, the Israeli army stated that it had identified "several suspects operating a Hamas-affiliated drone in the central Gaza Strip," without providing further details about this alleged affiliation. Israeli forces "precisely struck the suspects who had activated it," the army added, specifying that the circumstances were under "investigation."

On the scene, a witness told AFP that journalists were using a drone to film a humanitarian aid distribution managed by the Egyptian Relief Committee when a vehicle accompanying them was targeted. "This area is considered safe and humanitarian," noted another witness, Mahmoud Azzam, interviewed by AFP near the site of the strike, where men wearing vests bearing the logo of the Egyptian Relief Committee were searching the charred remains of a car.

“A vehicle belonging to the Egyptian Committee was targeted during a humanitarian mission,” said Mohammed Mansour, the organization’s spokesman in Gaza City. Stating that “all of the Committee’s vehicles” bear its logo, he denounced the Israeli strike as “criminal.” Abdoul Raouf Shaath was not on assignment for AFP at the time of the strike. His last report for the agency was published on Monday.

At Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis (southern Palestine), where the journalists' bodies were taken, dozens of people came to pay their respects. The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate condemned the attack "in the strongest possible terms," denouncing Israel's "systematic and deliberate policy" to "intentionally target Palestinian journalists."

Journalists face "immense dangers" in Gaza

"This isolated strike on journalists identifiable by their reporting equipment could indicate targeting and constitute a war crime," said Martin Roux, head of the Crisis desk at the journalists' rights organization Reporters Without Borders (RSF), in a statement.

“This attack is a stark reminder of the immense dangers to which journalists, like other civilians, continue to be exposed, even during the ongoing ceasefire,” noted the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Hamas, which seized power in Gaza in 2007, denounced it as a “war crime.”

The fragile ceasefire in Gaza, the first step in Donald Trump's plan to end the war, is marred by daily gunfire, while the humanitarian situation remains critical. Nearly 470 Palestinians have been killed since the truce began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. The Israeli army, for its part, reported three soldiers killed since the same date.

According to Reporters Without Borders (RSF), “nearly 220 journalists have been killed in Gaza by the Israeli army since the start of its offensive more than two years ago, including at least 71 who were targeted or killed while carrying out their work.” The Israeli army, for its part, claims that many of the media professionals it acknowledges having killed were “terrorists” belonging to the armed wing of Hamas or other Palestinian armed groups.