AFP calls for investigation into the killing of one of its photographers in Gaza

Agence France-Presse (AFP) has called for a thorough and transparent investigation into the killing of its freelance photojournalist in the Gaza Strip, Abdel Raouf Shaath, 34.

In a statement released Thursday, the agency noted that a significant number of local journalists in Gaza have been killed in the past two years, while foreign journalists remain unable to access the territory.

AFP expressed its deep sorrow over the death of Shaath, who had been a regular freelance photographer with the agency for nearly two years.

Three journalists were killed Wednesday when an Israeli airstrike directly targeted a media vehicle belonging to the Egyptian Committee for Media and Communications, while a crew was filming at the committee’s camps in the Netzarim area of ​​central Gaza.

Israeli warplanes directly targeted a jeep bearing the Egyptian Committee’s logo and carrying accredited journalists: Mohammed Qashta, Abdel Raouf Shaath, and Anas Ghneim.

Palestinian factions, unions, and federations condemned the killing of the three journalists, deeming it a war crime. The Government Media Office in the Gaza Strip announced that the number of journalists killed by the Israeli occupation has risen to 260 since the beginning of the genocidal war on the Gaza Strip.