GAZA CITY, Palestine

Two more journalists have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, taking the death toll of journalists since Oct. 7 to 117, the Gaza media office announced on Thursday. 

In a statement, the media office stated: “The number of journalists killed has risen to 117 since the start of the genocidal war on the Gaza Strip, after the loss of our colleagues, journalists Fuad Abu Khamash and Mohammed Al-Thalathini.”

On Wednesday, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society stated that Abu Khamash, a volunteer photographer for the society, was killed along with five others, including three of its staffers, in an Israeli shelling that targeted an ambulance in the central part of the Gaza Strip.

According to the media office and human rights organizations, the Israeli army "deliberately" targets Palestinian journalists to prevent them from reporting the "crimes" it commits in Gaza.

The number of journalists who have lost their lives due to the ongoing Israeli attacks on Gaza since Oct. 7 has surpassed the total number of journalists killed worldwide in 2021 and 2022.

According to local and international data, 109 journalists were killed worldwide in 2021 and 2022, while the death toll of journalists due to Israeli attacks on Gaza since Oct. 7 has reached 117.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas, which Tel Aviv says killed around 1,200 people.

At least 23,469 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and 59,604 others injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.  

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala​​​​​​​