The New Dark Age

Israeli forces killed Middle East Eye journalists Mohamed Salama and Ahmed Abu Aziz on Monday, in a double-tap strike on the Nasser Hospital in the southern Gaza Strip.

Middle East Eye’s story is here: below is a statement from editor-in-chief David Hearst about the killings.

The killings of MEE journalists Mohammed Salama and Ahmed Abu Aziz are not collateral damage. They were not killed in crossfire, or because they happened to be on the frontline.

They were murdered alongside photojournalist Hossam Al-Masri, photographer Mariam Abu Deqa, and Mo’az Abu Taha. They were the targets of an Israeli double-tap missile strike, aimed at the first responders and journalists covering an attack on one of the last functioning hospitals in Gaza.

They were exceptional journalists working in near-impossible conditions.

Salama covered Israel’s siege on al-Shifa Hospital; the furore over the now-pulled BBC documentary Gaza: How To Survive A War Zone; and the killing of a frail 10-year-old boy, Abdulrahim ‘Amir’ al-Jarabe’a, at a Gaza Humanitarian Foundation site in May.

Salama, who started working with MEE shortly after Israel launched its genocidal campaign on the besieged enclave, also contributed for several other media outlets in a freelance capacity, most notably Al Jazeera Arabic and Al Jazeera Mubasher.

After the assassination of Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent Anas al-Sharif and several of his crew on 10 August, Salama knew full well he could be next, and yet he did not shirk from rushing to the hospital and into the line of fire.

Abu Aziz, a freelance journalist based in Khan Younis, had contributed to dozens of reports for MEE since the Israeli genocide in Gaza began in October 2023.

He constantly updated MEE’s newsdesk with reports from the enclave, despite suffering a serious back injury which went untreated due to the war.

According to the Watson School of International and Public Affairs at Brown University, Israel has already killed more journalists during the last 22 months in Gaza than the combined total of the journalists who perished in the American Civil War, both World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, the breakup of Yugoslavia and the war in Afghanistan. That is some statistic.

Israel cannot hide the truth of the genocide it is waging in Gaza, so it is killing as many of those who record each strike as it can.

What Israel is doing in Gaza is terrorism practised by the state. In killing as many civilians and non-combatants as it can, in targeting hospitals, first responders and journalists, Israel is seeking to terrorise Palestinians in Gaza into fleeing abroad.

It must not and cannot be allowed to succeed. It is up to every nation that calls itself civilised to stop it.