Gaza reporter rips off press vest as Israel kills media colleague

The killing of another Palestinian journalist amid Israel's onslaught on Gaza has sent shockwaves among reporters in the besieged enclave.

A Palestine TV correspondent was killed along with 11 members of his family in an Israeli strike on Thursday in southern Gaza, according to the Palestinian Authority-affiliated television network and Wafa news agency.

Mohammad Abu Hattab was reporting live on-air late on Thursday outside Nasser Hospital in Gaza. He was killed 30 minutes later after he had returned to his home which was destroyed in an Israeli strike.

His death prompted an emotional on-air report by Palestine TV journalist Salman Al Bashir, which reduced the television anchor to tears.

"We can't bear this anymore We are exhausted, we are here victims and martyrs awaiting our deaths, we are dying one after the other and no one cares about us or the large-scale catastrophe and the crime in Gaza," Al Bashir said.

"No protection, no international protection at all, no immunity to anything, this protection gear does not protect us and not those helmets," Al Bashir said, as he ripped off his own helmet and protective PRESS vest.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said at least 36 media workers were among those killed since the war on Gaza began on 7 October.

Israel is accused of deliberately targeting journalists to prevent news from getting out of the besieged enclave about the daily massacres.

We can’t take it anymore, we’re exhausted… We’re gonna get killed, it’s just a matter of when. There’s no protection, no impunity. These PPEs don’t protect us. Nothing protects journalists. We lose lives, one by one… Mohammed Abu Hatab was here, half an hour ago. pic.twitter.com/Ox8Wrrqsf9

— Rania Zabaneh (@RZabaneh) November 2, 2023

"These are just slogans that we are wearing, it doesn’t protect any journalist at all," Al Bashir said, his voice cracking.

"Live on air, we lose souls one after the other, without any price, we pass as martyrs, we await our turn one after the other," he said.

"Our colleague Mohammad Abu Hattab was standing here only 30 minutes ago, and now he left us, along with his wife, his brother, and many members of his family are now victims here inside the hospital," he added.

Israel's bombing campaign on the besieged Gaza Strip has killed over 9,227 Palestinians, including 3,826 children.

Israeli forces told Reuters and Agence France Press news agencies that it could not guarantee the safety of their journalists operating in Gaza, after they had sought assurances that their workers would not be targeted by Israeli strikes, according to Reuters.

The CPJ said that journalists in Gaza face  high risks as they try to cover the conflict in the face of an Israeli ground assault on Gaza City, devastating Israeli airstrikes, disrupted communications, and extensive power outages.

As of Friday, the CPJ confirmed that 31 Palestinian, four Israelis, and one Lebanese journalist were killed.

It said that eight journalists were injured and three were reported missing.

The NGO also reported that journalists were facing multiple assaults, threats, cyberattacks, censorship and killings of family members, adding that eight journalists were also arrested by Israeli forces.

Later Friday, Quds News Network announced the killing of its former journalists outside Al-Shifa Hospital.