Five Palestinian journalists killed as Israel hits broadcast vehicle in Gaza

Five Palestinian journalists have been killed by an Israeli strike in the Gaza Strip, the Health Ministry said on Thursday.

The strike hit a vehicle outside the Al Awda Hospital in the Nuseirat refugee camp. Associated Press video showed the burned shell of a van with press markings. The journalists were working for the local news outlet Al Quds Today.

More than 130 Palestinian reporters have been killed since the start of the war, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Israel has not allowed foreign reporters to enter Gaza except on military embeds.

A missile hit the journalists' broadcast truck as it was parked in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, according to a statement from their employer, Al Quds Today.

Mourners attend the funeral of members of the press who were killed in an Israeli strike, at the Al Awda Hospital in Gaza Strip on Thursday. AFP

The station identified the five staffers as 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 statement said. "We affirm our commitment to continue our resistant media message," it added.

According to witnesses in Nuseirat, a missile fired by an Israeli aircraft hit the broadcast vehicle, which was parked outside Al Awda Hospital, setting the vehicle on fire and killing those inside.

Members of the press stand in solidarity after an Israeli missile hit a media broadcast truck in Nuseirat. AFP

The Committee to Protect Journalists' Middle East arm said the organisation was "devastated by the reports that five journalists and media workers were killed inside their broadcasting vehicle by an Israeli strike."

"Journalists are civilians and must always be protected," it added in a statement on social media. The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate said last week that more than 190 journalists had been killed and at least 400 injured since the start of the war in Gaza.

Israel's bombardment and ground invasion in Gaza has killed over 45,000 Palestinians, more than half of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its count.

Palestinians, mostly journalists, gather around the bodies of five journalists who were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City, at the Al Aqsa Hospital. AP

Agencies