Israel Kills Gaza Journalists Who Covered Dire Conditions During Hospital Raid

Al Jazeera correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul and his cameraman Rami al-Rifi were reporting west of Gaza City when they were bombed in their car.

An Israeli airstrike killed at least two Palestinian journalists on Wednesday, including an Al Jazeera correspondent who told the world about the conditions he and other members of the press faced while detained by Israeli soldiers raiding Gaza’s largest hospital earlier this year.

Correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul and his cameraman Rami al-Rifi, both 27 years old, were driving in the al-Shati refugee camp west of Gaza City when they were struck by an Israeli missile. Just minutes earlier, the two were reporting live to Al Jazeera from near the destroyed home of Ismail Haniyeh, the leader of Hamas’ political wing who was assassinated by Israel on Tuesday in Iran.

The strike killed both journalists, who were wearing the blue press vest that over the last 10 months has become a kind of symbol for press solidarity and Palestinian freedom around the world. The attack also killed a child who happened to be riding his bicycle in the area when the missile hit.

Extremely graphic photos and video of the scene of the strike show what appears to be al-Ghoul sitting in the driver’s seat of his now-destroyed white car, which was marked as a press vehicle. He is decapitated, with no sign of his head in photos of him behind the wheel.

Footage also shows Gaza Civil Defense workers recovering the journalists’ remains from the car, collecting pieces of their shredded bodies in plastic bags. The men were taken to al-Ahli Arab Hospital, where journalists and loved ones gathered to mourn before their shrouded bodies that still donned tattered, bloodied press jackets, according to Al Jazeera.