Israel calls slain Al Jazeera journalist Hamas' 'sniper terrorist'
The Israeli military and Shin Bet internal security agency said they had "eliminated a sniper terrorist from the Beit Hanun Battalion of Hamas.
Israel on Tuesday claimed Hussam Shabat, an Al Jazeera employee who was killed in Gaza yesterday, was Hamas' “sniper terrorist”. The Qatar-based network said Shabat was killed in an Israeli strike on his vehicle in northern Gaza.
The Israeli military and Shin Bet internal security agency said they had "eliminated a sniper terrorist from the Beit Hanun Battalion of the Hamas terrorist organisation, who was also employed as a journalist by Al Jazeera".
Gaza's civil defence agency claimed the journalist was killed in an Israeli drone strike in his car, near a petrol pump in Beit Lahia.
Israel claimed his affiliation with the military wing of Hamas was exposed by its security forces in October 2024.
According to the Israeli statement, "internal Hamas documents" had proved Shabat had taken part in military training conducted by the militant group's Beit Hanun Battalion in 2019.
An Al Jazeera alert on Monday said: "Hussam Shabat, a journalist collaborating with Al Jazeera Mubasher, was martyred in an Israeli strike targeting his car in the northern Gaza Strip", referring to the network's live Arabic channel.
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Media watchdog RSF today condemned the "targeted Israeli strike" that killed Shabat, “one of Gaza's best-known journalists”. It said the "Al Jazeera reporter and his colleagues were at high risk of assassination".
The group claimed the Israeli army was "already responsible for the deaths of nearly 200 journalists in 15 months, including at least 43 killed while working".
Israel-Hamas conflict
Weeks after an uneasy ceasefire with Hamas, Israel restarted airstrikes and ground operations in Gaza. Both sides blamed each other for renewed hostilities.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza claimed 792 people had been killed since March 18.
Over 50,000 people, mostly civilians, have died in Gaza since Israel launched retaliatory strikes over the Hamas attack in 2023.
Israel has accused Al Jazeera reporters in Gaza of being "terrorist operatives". It has suspended the telecast of the channel.
With inputs from AFP
