Journalists in Gaza strive to ‘tell truth’ despite danger Hundreds of people wounded in Friday’s mass demonstration

GAZA — Palestinian journalists have recently realized that they have become a target of Israeli soldiers while they were covering the mass protests on the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel.

On April 6, Yasser Murtaga, a 30-year-old cameraman from Gaza city, was shot dead by Israeli troops east of the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis while he was filming for a local news and TV production company.

As part of the six-week ongoing protest called “the Great March of Return”, which started on March 30, the Palestinians have staged five rallies in eastern Gaza Strip along the border with Israel.

The rallies are expected to last until May 15, the day after the 70th anniversary of Israel’s declaration of independence but marked by the Palestinians as the Nakba Day, or “Day of the Catastrophe”.

The Gaza Health Ministry said that 35 Palestinians have been killed, including two Hamas militants, and more than 2,800 were wounded since the start of the rallies.

Israel, on the other hand, claimed that most of the killed were Hamas militants and that some militants used to disguise as civilians.

Thousands of Palestinians gathered at the eastern area of the Gaza Strip to carry on their protests in the third consecutive Friday mass rally against Israelis, in which Palestinian women were on front lines with Israeli soldiers. Hundreds were wounded, Gaza health officials said.

The heavy shooting of bullets and tear gas by Israeli army did not prevent women demonstrators from joining the weekly rallies in border areas.

Near Salsabil, Sarah, a 20-year-old girl, carried car tires to demonstrators and helped young men pull up barbed wire placed by the Israeli army before the border fence.

“The Palestinian women are an integral part of the society ... today they are to prove this,” Sarah said after she gave a car tire to a masked protester.

“The national struggle and defending the refugees’ right to return are not limited to Omer al-Zain, men. Palestinian women always at the forefront,” said proudly.

During the confrontation, three journalists were wounded, including one in critical condition, while covering the events.

Spokesman of the Ministry of Health in Gaza, Ashraf al-Qedra, said that Ahmed Abu Aalwa and Mohammed al-Hajjar, both journalists working for local Palestinian organizations, were moderately wounded in northern Gaza.

’Convey the truth’

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Ahmad Abu Hussein, a local radio operator, was severely wounded in the same area by a gunshot in the abdomen, said Qedra.

Later in the day, a number of other journalists suffocated amid tear gas Israeli soldiers hurled at media teams covering the protests.

In a statement, the Union of Palestinian Journalists accused the Israeli troops of shooting at journalists covering the peaceful protests.

“Israel bears full responsibility for the casualties of journalists and its continuing crimes against them,” the Union said in a statement.

Ministry of Information in the Palestinian Authority considered the “deliberate” targeting of press and media crews as a blatant violation of the UN Security Council resolutions.

The ministry said in a statement that the injury of the three journalists was Israel’s accountability, adding the UN Security Council held an urgent meeting to implement resolution 2222 to protect the journalists.

Despite all difficulties, journalists continue to cover the ongoing events to provide updated information.

“We will do our best to convey the truth, regardless of the dangers we are facing,” said Omer al-Zain, a young local journalist.

We will do our best to convey the truth, regardless of the dangers we are facing.” a local journalist

NAVESH CHITRAKAR / REUTERS A devotee gets his face smeared with vermillion powder during the “Sindoor Jatra” festival at Thimi, in Bhaktapur, Nepal, on Sunday.