The army says Ahmed Al-Louh, a former Islamic Jihad platoon commander, was at a location used to plan attacks; the TV network accuses Israel of “systematic killing of journalists”
The Israeli army announced on Sunday that an Al Jazeera cameraman killed in an airstrike in the central Gaza Strip was a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorist group
The Qatar-funded TV network strongly condemned the attack.
According to the army, the drone strike was carried out against a group of Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants at a command center, which was located in the offices of the Gaza civil defense organization in Nuseirat.
“The location was used by the terrorists to plan and carry out terrorist acts against IDF troops in the short term,” the army said.
They said several militants were killed in the attack, including Ahmed Al-Louh, the Al Jazeera cameraman who they said was a former platoon commander in Islamic Jihad’s Gaza Central Brigade.
The Israeli military said it had taken steps to prevent civilian harm, using precision munitions, aerial surveillance and other intelligence.
Meanwhile, Al Jazeera said in a statement that it “strongly condemns the killing of its cameraman, Ahmed Baker Al-Louh, 39, by Israeli occupation forces,” saying he was “brutally killed in an airstrike that targeted a civil defense post in the market area.” The network also said Louh’s death came “just days after his home was targeted” by Israeli forces, who “totally destroyed it” – an accusation to which the IDF did not specifically respond.
Al Jazeera Media Network condemns in the strongest terms the killing of its cameraman, Ahmad Baker Al-Louh, 39, by the Israeli occupation forces. https://t.co/g6wqEG0clU
” Al Jazeera PR (@AlJazeera) December 15, 2024
Al Jazeera accused Israel of “systematically killing journalists in cold blood” and “avoiding responsibility under international humanitarian law.” Meanwhile, the spokesman for the Hamas-controlled Gaza Civil Defense Agency, Mahmud Bassal, confirmed that Louh had died in the attack on the Nuseirat camp, which also killed three members of the rescue agency.
Hamas called Louh’s death “murder” and a “war crime,” describing it as “part of a systematic targeting of journalists in Gaza with the aim of intimidating and discouraging them.” This is not the first time an Al Jazeera employee has been killed by Israeli forces during the war in Gaza, which began when the Hamas terrorist group attacked Israel on October 7 last year, killing about 1,200 people and kidnapping 251. In January, Israel said an Al Jazeera journalist and a freelancer, both killed in an airstrike in Gaza, were terrorist operatives.
The following month, it accused another Al Jazeera journalist, who was wounded in a separate attack, of being a Hamas deputy company commander.
And in October, the IDF said it had found documents in Gaza showing that six active Al Jazeera reporters were operatives for Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Al Jazeera has vehemently denied these allegations and accused Israel of systematically targeting its employees in the Gaza Strip.
In April, the Israeli government passed an emergency law to shut down the network and block its broadcasts for violating national security.
The courts upheld that legislation, citing classified information.
Published in 12/16/2024 10h49
Text adapted by AI (Grok) and translated via Google API in the English version. Images from public image libraries or credits in the caption.
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