Since October 7, 2023, Israel killed at least 135 journalists in Gaza.

Israel had no concrete evidence of the presence of Hamas members on the scene where slain Palestinian journalists Hamza Dahdouh and Mustafa Thurayya were killed on January 7 in southern Gaza, a Washington Post probe revealed on Tuesday.

Dahdouh, 27, was the eldest son of prominent Al Jazeera journalist and Gaza bureau chief Wael Dahdouh. His killing came after Israel killed his mother, 15-year-old brother, seven-year-old sister, and his infant nephew on October 25, 2023.

Thurayya, 30, was also a well-known freelancer who provided drone footage of Gaza to Al Jazeera, AFP, Reuters, and Getty Images.

Israel killed both Dahdouh and Thurayya in an airstrike on January 7 that targeted their vehicle as they were leaving an area targeted by Israel hours earlier. The strike on the car also killed the driver and injured two other journalists. 

Israel’s military was quick to justify the attack by claiming that it “identified and struck a terrorist who operated an aircraft that posed a threat to IDF troops,” referring to the drone that Thurayya was operating. 

The Post, which obtained footage from the drone’s recovered memory card, noted that the device in question was a consumer model that can be easily purchased. 

Journalists on the ground also told the American outlet that Israel had not issued any policies on using the device for filming, a tool that the press in Gaza used to document the scale of the damage.

Israel also alleged that Dahdouh was affiliated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and that Thurayya had links to Hamas, without providing any evidence to back its claims. 

Dahdouh had also received approval from COGAT, an arm of Israel’s military that controls Gaza’s entry and exit permits, to leave the city. Both Dahdouh and Thurayya had already passed Israeli checkpoints before reaching southern Gaza where they were killed.

Notably, Israel does not grant Hamas affiliates the privilege to exit Gaza.

Dahdouh’s father, who has been evacuated to Qatar in January, confirmed to The Post that his son had received security clearance. An official who spoke on the condition of anonymity also confirmed the matter.

COGAT did not respond to the American outlet’s request to confirm whether Dahdouh received clearance.

Faced with evidence and testimonies of witnesses, Israel appeared to backtrack on its claims the day after the attack. The Israeli military’s spokesperson, Daniel Hagari, told NBC at the time that “every journalist that dies, it’s unfortunate.” 

He said the drone made the journalists look like “terrorists.”

Speaking at a press conference in Doha on January 7, hours after the killing of Dahdouh, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he was “deeply, deeply sorry” over the “loss.”

“I am deeply, deeply sorry for the almost unimaginable loss suffered by your colleague, Wael Dahdouh. I am a parent myself, I can’t begin to imagine the horror that he has experienced, not once, but now twice,” Blinken said, without condemning the killing.

Allegations debunked

The Washington Post investigated by reviewing the footage saved in the memory card of Thurayya’s drone while collecting testimonies from 14 witnesses. 

The American newspaper obtained the footage from the Media Town production house in Istanbul, the company that subcontracted Thurayya’s work for Al Jazeera.

Citing the metadata of the videos, it found that Thurayya had started flying the drone at 10:39 a.m. local time and stopped recording at 10:55 a.m. 

The Israeli strike on the vehicle that transported Dahdouh and Thurayya was carried out at 11:10 a.m., meaning that Israel targeted the journalists 15 minutes after the drone stopped recording. 

The footage did not show any Israeli soldiers or military equipment, The Washington Post noted. Responding to the outlet’s detailed questions on the findings, the Israeli military maintained that it had “nothing further to add.”

Echoing The Post’s findings, William Goodhind, an open-source researcher with Contested Ground, said he did not find “armoured vehicles, military trucks, strongholds, revetments” when he reviewed the footage.

Sherif Mansour, the Middle East and North Africa programme coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists told The Post that the Israeli military’s response falls under a pattern to justify its attacks on the press.

“Evading responsibility, throwing accusations of terrorism on the journalists,” Mansour said, listing the common Israeli justifications.

This is reminiscent of the killing of veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh on May 11, 2022, while she was covering an Israeli raid on Jenin. Abu Akleh was identifiable as a member of the press as she wore her blue protective vest and helmet. 

Despite this, an Israeli sniper proceeded to shoot and kill Abu Akleh. To date, Israel has not been held to account for the crime.

Israel has deliberately targeted the press in Gaza since the beginning of the brutal war on October 7, 2023, where it killed at least 31,923 Palestinians, including at least 135 journalists.

On Monday, Israeli forces beat up and arrested Al Jazeera’s correspondent Ismail Alghoul from inside the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City during the deadly raid on the facility. Israeli forces released Alghoul after 12 hours of torture and humiliation.

Over in southern Lebanon, Israel has been targeting journalists covering the cross-border attacks with Hezbollah.

The first recorded incident was on October 13, where Israel killed Reuters reporter Issam Abdallah and severely injured six other international press members, including Al Jazeera.

The press crew were deliberately targeted during their coverage of the Israel-Hezbollah attacks in Alma Al-Chaab in the Tyre governorate, southern Lebanon. The Israeli attack caused the amputation of the leg of AFP photographer, Christina Assi, according to the French news agency.

Another Israeli airstrike on November 21 then killed Al Mayadeen’s correspondent, Farah Omar, alongside cameraman Rabih Me’mari in Tayr Harfa, South Lebanon.

On December 23, the Al-Manar crew survived an Israeli strike on the Al-Khardali area, south of Lebanon.