Two journalists, including an Al Jazeera reporter, have been wounded in an Israeli attack north of Rafah in southern Gaza.
The condition of Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent Ismail Abu Omar and his cameraman Ahmad Matar was described as serious and both were transferred to the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Younis for treatment on Tuesday.
Abu Omar has had his right leg amputated, but pieces of shrapnel remained in his head and chest. Doctors were trying to save his left leg. He was undergoing surgery after suffering significant blood loss from a possible cut in the femoral artery.
The two journalists were hit by an Israeli drone strike in Miraj, north of Rafah city. They were documenting the condition of displaced Palestinians crammed into the area as Israel intensifies its attacks by land, sea and air across the besieged enclave, killing more than 28,000 people.
Doctor Muhammad al-Astal, an emergency physician at the hospital, said Abu Omar’s life was at risk due to his severe injuries.
Ahmed Matar, who was accompanying Al Jazeera correspondent Ismail Abu Omar, in hospital [Screengrab/Sanad]
Reporting from Rafah, Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud said this is another tragedy hitting journalists trying to cover Israel’s war on Gaza.
“They were in the field documenting the living conditions of displaced Palestinian families in that particular area and documenting the horror that they have experienced and lived through in the past 24 hours as massive air strikes targeted major parts of Rafah city, where close to 100 people were killed,” he said.
“They were directly targeted by a missile fired from a drone.”
Everyone is a target’
Al Jazeera Media Network condemned what it said was a “deliberate targeting” of the journalists by Israeli forces. Al Jazeera.