Hamas Movement has issued a powerful condemnation of the Israeli occupation army’s cold-blooded assassination of five Al Jazeera journalists, describing the attack as a “monstrous crime” that lays bare Israel’s relentless assault on truth and humanity in Gaza.

The journalists—Anas ash-Sharif, Mohamed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Daher, Moamen Eliwa, and Mohamed Nofal—were killed in a deliberate Israeli drone strike on their tent in the courtyard of Al-Shifa Hospital in western Gaza City on Monday.

In a heartfelt statement, Hamas mourned the fallen journalists as martyrs, praising their unwavering courage in exposing Israel’s atrocities. The group highlighted Anas ash-Sharif as a heroic figure whose fearless reporting brought the world undeniable evidence of Israel’s starvation policies and the worsening famine in Gaza. Hamas decried the killings as part of Israel’s unprecedented and barbaric campaign to silence Palestinian voices, noting that these five journalists join 232 others murdered by Israeli forces in what it called “the most egregious assault on media professionals in any conflict.”

Israel’s military admitted to the strike, attempting to justify it with unsubstantiated claims that Anas ash-Sharif was involved in rocket attacks. Palestinian advocates and human rights groups have fiercely rejected these accusations as baseless fabrications, asserting that ash-Sharif was targeted for his vital role in documenting Israel’s war crimes in Gaza. These groups argue that Israel’s systematic targeting of journalists is a desperate attempt to suppress the truth about its devastating campaign against the Palestinian people.

The killing of these Al Jazeera journalists has sparked outrage, with Palestinian supporters and human rights defenders condemning Israel’s ongoing efforts to eradicate media witnesses to its actions. This latest tragedy underscores the immense dangers faced by journalists in Gaza, where reporting on Israel’s oppression has become a life-threatening act of resistance. (ILKHA)