Lethal strikes hit the Gaza residence of a information photographer days after an Israeli media advocacy group questioned his protection of Hamas’ Oct. 7, prompting dying threats in opposition to him on social media.
Yasser Qudih, who survived the strikes on the evening of Nov. 13, mentioned 4 projectiles hit the rear of his home, killing eight members of the family.
The assault was 5 days after the Nov. 8 report by HonestReporting questioning whether or not Qudih, a contract photographer, and three different Gaza-based photographers had prior information of the Oct. 7 assault on Israel by Hamas.
Reuters strongly denied HonestReporting’s hypothesis, as did different worldwide information organisations recognized within the report.
Qudih had offered photographs to Reuters in the course of the Oct. 7 assault by Hamas gunmen though he was not a Reuters employees photographer.
Qudih mentioned he had returned residence barely an hour earlier than the strikes on his home which have been seconds aside, and with out warning, at round 7:50 p.m. (1750 GMT).
“Israel attacked my home,” he mentioned. Requested why, he added: “I don’t know.”
Reuters couldn’t confirm who was answerable for the strikes, why Qudih’s residence in southern Gaza was focused or whether or not the strikes have been linked to HonestReporting’s Nov. 8 report.
The Israel Defence Forces (IDF), which has launched a army offensive in Gaza in response to the Oct.7 assault, declined to say whether or not its forces had performed the strike and, if that’s the case, what the goal was.
“The IDF is currently focused on eliminating the threat from the terrorist organization Hamas. Questions of this kind will be looked into in a later stage,” it mentioned, in reply to questions from Reuters.
In an announcement, Reuters mentioned it was “deeply saddened “to be taught of the deaths of Qudih’s members of the family. It additionally mentioned HonestReporting made “baseless accusations” in opposition to Qudih.
“Thereafter, numerous threats against his safety circulated online. HonestReporting later accepted that its accusations were unfounded,” Reuters mentioned.
“The situation on the ground is dire, and the IDF’s unwillingness to give assurances about the safety of our staff threatens their ability to deliver news about this conflict without fear of being injured or killed.”
TWO-STOREY HOUSE
HonestReporting’s Nov. 8 report prompted the Israeli prime minister’s workplace to say the journalists have been accomplices in “crimes against humanity”. Israeli warfare cupboard member Benny Gantz urged they need to be handled as terrorists and hunted down, and a former Israeli envoy to the United Nations, Danny Danon, mentioned they need to be “eliminated”.
After issuing its report, Sincere Reporting’s govt director, Gil Hoffman, informed Reuters on Nov. 10 that his organisation accepted as “adequate” statements by Reuters and different media organisations cited in its report that they’d no earlier information of the assault.
HonestReporting didn’t reply to requests for touch upon the assault on Qudih’s residence. Requests have been submitted by Reuters to HonestReporting on Thursday.
In a reply to Reuters on Thursday, Danon, a member of Israel’s governing Likud celebration, reiterated his preliminary comment when requested concerning the strikes on Qudih’s residence.
“Every terrorist who illegally entered our communities on Oct. 7, every individual who arrived with the vile murderers who brutally assassinated, raped, mutilated, burnt and kidnapped their way through the south of Israel will meet the same fate,” he mentioned.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s workplace mentioned in an announcement that the Israeli army follows worldwide legislation and takes “feasible precautions to mitigate civilian harm”.
Gantz’s workplace didn’t reply to a request for remark. Hamas didn’t touch upon the assault on Qudih’s residence.
Qudih informed Reuters he lived in a two-storey home that was residence to solely him and his fast and prolonged household. About 20 folks have been at residence in the course of the strikes, which left a big crater in a yard behind the home and destroyed one facet of the constructing.
The director of Nasser Hospital, the primary hospital serving the realm the place Qudih lived, confirmed to Reuters that the names and ages of the eight members of the family killed have been listed among the many lifeless registered with the hospital.
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