Israeli strike kills 5 Palestinian journalists in Gaza, officials say

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An Israeli attack killed five Palestinian journalists outside a hospital in the Gaza Strip overnight, the Ministry of Health announced early Thursday. The Israeli military said it targeted a group of militants.

The strike hit a car in front of Al-Awda Hospital in Nuseirat refugee camp in the central part of the territory. The journalists were working for the local Quds news network, which also reported on the strike.

The military said it targeted a group of fighters from Islamic Jihad, a militant group allied to Hamas, whose October 7, 2023 attack in southern Israel sparked the war.

The Committee to Protect Journalists says more than 130 Palestinian reporters have been killed since the war began. Israel did not allow foreign reporters to enter Gaza except as part of the military.

The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed across the border in a surprise attack on army bases and nearby farming communities. They killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped around 250. About 100 hostages are still in Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.

Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians, according to the Ministry of Health. It said more than half of the victims were women and children, but did not say how many of the dead were fighters.

The offensive caused widespread destruction and displaced an estimated 90% of the population of 2.3 million. houses. Hundreds of thousands of people are crammed into squalid tent camps along the coast with little protection from the cold, wet winter.