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Speaking to Qatar News Agency (QNA) regarding the turning point in the Palestinian cause and the targeting of journalists in Gaza, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Qatar Press Center, Saad Al Rumaihi stated that the Israeli assaults on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023, represent a historic shift in the course of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, as the people of Gaza stood alone in the face of this brutal aggression that did not distinguish between people and stone.He added that the Palestinian people have recorded a heroic epic that will be immortalized in history. Now, as the second year nears its end, the struggle and resistance of Gaza's people continue, despite the imbalance of power between the two sides.Regarding the objective of the Israeli entity in continuing its aggression on the devastated Strip, Al Rumaihi stressed that people cannot learn the facts and what is happening on the ground and the course of battles, except through journalists and media professionals who deliver information to the public, as known in wars and major events.He added that they are unknown soldiers who stand bravely so that the world can see, hear, and read the news of these events and understand the reality and what is happening.Therefore, he accentuated, the Israeli occupation has deliberately silenced these voices as long as they convey to the world the true image and the tragedies faced by the people of Gaza.He highlighted that the occupation can only achieve this through the most heinous and extreme violations, unfortunately, through the physical elimination of these great journalists.He underscored that the Israeli assaults on Palestinian journalists clearly reveal Israel's insistence on imposing its unilateral media narrative, which contradicts the reality on the ground.In light of the world's failure and inability to enact binding laws to protect journalists and media professionals and defend them against Israeli arrogance, the Chairman of the Qatar Press Center affirmed in his statements to QNA, that the situation requires urgent action to protect journalists, so that the matter does not remain a mere dream difficult to achieve.Al Rumaihi confirmed that Israel continues its arrogance without any deterrent punishment from international bodies and organizations concerned with humanitarian and journalistic affairs.He reiterated the need to capitalize on the wave of international outrage and the storm of criticism directed at Israeli policy due to its continuous and deliberate targeting of civilians in the Gaza Strip, including journalists, emphasizing the importance of harnessing the growing global humanitarian sentiment toward the Palestinian cause and Al Aqsa Mosque.He pointed out that the demonstrations and sit-ins that have swept many countries around the world now reflect this solidarity, even in the United States of America, where university campuses have turned into platforms for defending Gaza and its people.He explained that the Qatar Press Center has sought and continues to support the steadfastness of the people of Gaza through numerous media initiatives, seminars, exhibitions, news coverage, and other means, which it considers a duty as it lives through these events and follows their developments.The Chairman of the Qatar Press Center concluded by emphasizing the necessity of standing by the Palestinian people, moving beyond mere condemnation and denunciation, which is all we currently possess.He added that specialized global organizations must exert more pressure on Israel to stop its aggression against the Palestinian people, enabling them to obtain their most basic rights to live in safety and dignity.With every Israeli assault on media workers in Gaza and the Palestinian territories, renewed calls emerge from all press unions, media, human rights, and legal organizations around the world for explicit condemnation of these repeated crimes, with the urgent need to put an end to them, so that Israel does not succeed in its attempts to silence voices and images and prevent the transmission of the truth about the crimes it commits against the Palestinian people.

The Qatar Press Center (QPC) condemns the killing of 20 Palestinians, including five journalists and several ambulance and civil defence crews while evacuating the wounded, in an Israeli air strike on the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip.Quoting a medical source, WAFA reported that the journalists killed were: Mohammed Salama, a photojournalist for Al Jazeera; Hussam al-Masri, a photojournalist for Reuters; journalist Mariam Dagga, who works for several media outlets, including Independent Arabia and AP; and journalist Moaz Abu Taha for the American NBC network. Fellow journalist Ahmed Abu Aziz succumbed to his wounds following the Israeli massacre.This brings the number of journalists killed since the beginning of the aggression on Gaza to 245. The QPC affirms that the new Israeli massacre of journalists while performing their professional duties is part of a systematic policy pursued by the occupation army since the beginning of its war of extermination against the people of Gaza on October 7, 2023, targeting journalists’ locations, homes, and tents to prevent them from conveying the truth to the world and to silence their voices forever. The QPC reiterates its call on the international community, UN, human rights, and media organisations, to condemn the targeting of journalists in Gaza and to take urgent action to hold the Israeli occupation accountable before international courts for war crimes against journalists and media professionals. Impunity has encouraged the Israeli occupation forces to continue their series of assassinations, arrests, and intimidation of journalists, in full view of the world.Cameras documented the martyrdom of the journalists live on air. A circulating video shows a group of journalists and paramedics rushing to Nasser Hospital after the fourth floor was bombed, to begin rescuing the victims and wounded.However, they were surprised by a second Israeli airstrike targeting them, resulting in an increase in the number of casualties among photographers and medical personnel.The Government Media Office in the Gaza Strip condemned the recent Israeli massacre, noting that the number of journalist martyrs in the Strip had risen to 245 following the latest attack.The office called on the International Federation of Journalists to condemn the crimes against journalists and held Israel responsible for the brutal crimes committed in the Gaza Strip.

Gaza's civil defence agency said five journalists were among at least 20 people killed Monday when Israeli strikes hit a hospital in the south, with Reuters, the Associated Press and Al Jazeera mourning their slain contributors.The ongoing war in Gaza has been one of the deadliest for journalists, with around 200 media workers killed over the course of the nearly two-year Israeli assault, according to media watchdogs.Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said "the toll so far is 20 martyrs, including five journalists and one member of the civil defence", after strikes hit Khan Yunis's Nasser Hospital — a large medical complex that has been targeted several times by Israel since the start of the war.In a statement, the Israeli military said its troops Monday "carried out a strike in the area of Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis"."The Chief of the General Staff instructed to conduct an initial inquiry as soon as possible," it said, adding it "regrets any harm to uninvolved individuals and does not target journalists as such".The civil defence's Bassal said an Israeli explosive drone targeted a building at the hospital, followed by an air strike as the wounded were being evacuated.Reuters reported that video journalist Hussam al-Masri — a contractor who was working for the agency — was operating a live feed at the hospital, "which suddenly shut down at the moment of the initial strike".A Reuters spokesperson said the agency was "devastated" to learn of Masri's death "and injuries to another of our contractors, Hatem Khaled, in Israeli strikes on the Nasser hospital in Gaza today"."We are urgently seeking more information and have asked authorities in Gaza and Israel to help us get urgent medical assistance for Hatem," the statement added.A spokesperson for Qatar-based TV network Al Jazeera said that one of its photojournalists and cameramen, Mohammad Salama, was also killed in the attack."Al Jazeera Media Network condemns, in the strongest possible terms, this horrific crime committed by the Israeli occupation forces, who have directly targeted and assassinated journalists as part of a systematic campaign to silence the truth," the broadcaster said in a statement.The Associated Press said in a statement that it was "shocked and saddened" to learn of the death of Mariam Dagga, 33, a visual journalist who had freelanced for the agency since the start of the war.The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate named two other victims as Moaz Abu Taha and Ahmad Abu Aziz.Later Monday, a sixth journalist, Hassan Douhan, was killed by Israeli fire in the Al-Mawasi area of Khan Yunis, according to the Palestinian Journalists Syndicate and Nasser Hospital.Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.AFP footage from the immediate aftermath of the attack showed smoke filling the air and debris from the blast on the floor outside the hospital.Palestinians rushed to help the victims, carrying bloodied corpses and severed body parts into the medical complex. One body could be seen dangling from the top floor of the targeted building as a man screamed below.A woman wearing medical scrubs and a white coat was among the injured, carried into the hospital on a stretcher with a heavily bandaged leg and blood all over her clothes.Nasser Hospital is one of the last remaining health facilities in the Gaza Strip that is at least partially functioning.Later in the day, a crowd carried the bodies of some of the slain journalists at a funeral in Khan Yunis, with the dead wrapped in white burial shrouds and their press flak jackets resting on top."We will not stop walking this path, and the coverage will continue, God willing," said Masri's brother Mahmoud.The strike was lambasted by a range of voices, including the UN, media outlets, rights groups and the Israel-based Foreign Press Association.Earlier this month, four Al Jazeera staff and two freelancers were killed in an Israeli air strike outside Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, prompting widespread condemnation.Anas al-Sharif — a prominent Al Jazeera correspondent killed in the strike was killed in the strike.