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Qatar Press Center Condemns the Assassination of a Journalist and Three Paramedics in Gaza

The Qatar Press Center strongly condemns the assassination of journalist Moamen Abu Alouf and three medical service workers — Hussein Muheisen, Raed Al-Attar, and Bara’a Fares Afaneh — in an intense Israeli artillery bombardment. They were targeted while attempting to rescue martyrs and wounded individuals from a home struck by Israeli shelling in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood, east of Gaza City. This brings the number of journalists martyred since the beginning of the genocide in Gaza to 229.

According to the latest figures from the Government Media Office in Gaza, the number of martyrs among medical personnel since the start of the war on October 7, 2023, has reached approximately 1,580. These targeted killings occur in the context of the ongoing Israeli aggression against Gaza, which continues to claim the lives of civilians, medical workers, and media professionals.

Among the martyred paramedics was Hussein Muheisen, Gaza’s most well-known ambulance worker, accompanied by his colleagues Raed Al-Attar and Bara’a Fares Afaneh. Muheisen had appeared in many photos working tirelessly on the ground throughout the war, rescuing victims and saving the lives of numerous children trapped beneath the rubble of bombed buildings.

Activists on social media confirmed that the three paramedics were more than just men in white coats — for 612 consecutive days, they never left the field. They were the first to arrive at every massacre and the last to leave the ruins. They raced against time not for glory, but to save lives — strangers to them. How many lives did they save? How many bodies did they recover? How did their hearts endure all those harrowing scenes? They were our witnesses to this genocide, but are now themselves in pieces, gone with their testimonies to meet their Creator, carrying with them 612 days of horror, abandonment, injustice, and death.

Social media users circulated the last post by journalist Moamen Abu Alouf on his Instagram account, where he wrote: "We are truly exhausted."

Genocidal War

The Qatar Press Center affirms that Israel, which has continued a genocidal war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, is committing systematic massacres against journalists, media professionals, and medical teams. It targets their locations and homes with missiles and drones to silence their voices and prevent them from conveying the truth to the world, promoting instead false Israeli narratives. Israel has also bombed hospitals, ambulances, shelters for displaced people, and sites for rescuing the injured and retrieving bodies.

The Center reiterates its call on the international community and United Nations, human rights, and media organizations to condemn the targeting of journalists in Gaza and take urgent action to hold the Israeli occupation accountable in international courts for its war crimes against journalists. The impunity granted to Israeli forces has encouraged them to continue the cycle of assassination, arrest, and intimidation of journalists in plain view of the world.

The Center also urges the international community to pressure Israel to release detained journalists held in Israeli prisons under harsh conditions, deprived of even the most basic rights guaranteed by international laws and treaties.

Targeting Journalists

In an official statement, the Government Media Office in Gaza said that Moamen Abu Alouf, who worked as a photojournalist for several local media outlets, was targeted during a humanitarian mission on Yafa Street in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood. Cameras had documented him minutes earlier alongside paramedics at Al-Shifa Hospital after a rescue operation in the Al-Radwan area before they were all shelled.

The office added that the targeting of Palestinian journalists is part of a systematic Israeli policy to obscure the truth and prevent the world from seeing the crimes committed against civilians in Gaza.

It stressed that "Israel" bears full responsibility for the ongoing crimes against journalists and called on the International Federation of Journalists, the Arab Journalists Union, and all international media organizations to issue a clear condemnation and take immediate action to protect Palestinian journalists and hold Israel accountable in international courts.

Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli occupation has committed a genocide in Gaza, resulting in over 181,000 Palestinians killed or wounded, the majority of them women and children, with more than 11,000 missing and hundreds of thousands displaced.