IDF strike kills five staffers of Islamic Jihad-affiliated TV station in Gaza Strip
Military says strike in central Gaza’s Nuseirat hit PIJ terror cell; baby dies of hypothermia in humanitarian zone, said to be third within days
The Israel Defense Forces said Thursday morning that an airstrike in the vicinity of Al-Awda Hospital in central Gaza’s Nuseirat had targeted “a vehicle with an Islamic Jihad terror cell inside,” following overnight reports from Hamas-run Gaza health authorities that said five people had been killed there.
Palestinian media had said that the five people killed were journalists, and that the vehicle was marked as a media van and was used by journalists to report from inside the hospital and the Nuseirat refugee camp.
The Palestinian TV channel Al-Quds Today, which is affiliated with the Islamic Jihad terror group, identified those killed in the airstrike as its staffers Faisal Abu Al-Qumsan, Ayman Al-Jadi, Ibrahim Al-Sheikh Khalil, Fadi Hassouna and Mohammed Al-Lada’a.
They were killed “while performing their journalistic and humanitarian duty,” the outlet’s statement said, adding, “We affirm our commitment to continue our resistant media message.”
In a statement, the IDF said that prior to the strike it had taken “numerous steps to mitigate the risk of harming civilians, adding, “The IDF will continue to operate against Hamas in defense of the citizens of Israel.”
Israel has repeatedly documented members of terror groups in Gaza working under the cover of journalists.
Hamas-affiliated medics also said at least 10 people were killed and more than a dozen wounded in separate strikes in the early morning.
The medics said that five people were killed and 20 wounded in a strike on a house in Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighborhood. They warned that many people remain trapped under the rubble.
The dead according to Al Quds Today. pic.twitter.com/jFUSeLSWps
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On Thursday, a group of Hamas operatives in Gaza City who were planning to carry out a drone attack on Israeli were targeted in an airstrike, the IDF said.
The military said in a statement that the operatives were struck by an Israeli Air Force helicopter, following intelligence provided by the Military Intelligence Directorate, Shin Bet security agency, and the IDF’s 990th Reserve Artillery Regiment.
Palestinian media reported three dead in the strike.
“The terrorists used a civilian area to plan and carry out a terror attack with explosive-laden drones against IDF troops,” the military said, describing the attack as imminent.
The IDF said it had taken steps to mitigate civilian harm in the strike.
Baby dies of hypothermia
A baby girl died of hypothermia overnight Wednesday-Thursday in a Gaza tent camp, her family and doctors said, and two other infants also died of cold in recent days.
The father of 3-week-old Sila, Mahmoud al-Faseeh, wrapped her in a blanket to try and keep her warm in their tent in the al-Mawasi area outside Khan Younis, but it wasn’t enough, he told The Associated Press.
He said the tent was not sealed from the wind and the ground was cold, as temperatures Tuesday night dropped to 9 degrees Celsius (48 degrees Fahrenheit) in the coastal area that Israel set aside as a humanitarian zone.
“It was very cold overnight and as adults we couldn’t even take it. We couldn’t stay warm,” he said. Sila woke up crying three times overnight and in the morning they found her unresponsive, her body stiff, he recalled.
“She was like wood,” said al-Faseeh. Doctors at a field hospital tried to revive her, but her lungs had already deteriorated. Images of Sila taken by the AP showed the little girl with purple lips, her pale skin blotchy.
Ahmed al-Farra, director of the children’s ward at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, confirmed that the baby died of hypothermia. He said two other babies – one 3 days old, the other a month old – had been brought to the hospital over the past 48 hours after dying of hypothermia.
Israel has been fighting the Hamas terror group in Gaza since October 7, 2023, when thousands of terrorists led by the organization invaded southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostages, starting an ongoing multi-front war.
Israel says it regrets harm to civilians amid the fighting, blaming Hamas for fighting in populated areas and in effect using civilians as human shields, and causing mass displacements, but aid groups and others say Israel must do more to protect Gazans from hunger, cold and violence.
