Israel kills another Palestinian journalist in Gaza, death toll rises to 229

Another Palestinian journalist was killed by Israeli army fire in Gaza, bringing the death toll since October 2023 to 229, local authorities said on Thursday.

Ahmad Abu Aisha lost his life after being directly hit by an Israeli drone in front of his home in the Sawarha area, west of the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, the government media office said in a statement.

The office condemned “Israel's systematic assassination of Palestinian reporters in Gaza” and called on human rights and media institutions to “condemn these systematic crimes against Gaza journalists.”

Rejecting calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, 2023, killing nearly 56,800 Palestinians so far, most of them women and children.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.