Israeli forces have detained an Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent, Ismail Alghoul, during a raid at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, where he was reporting with his crew.
The incident occurred early on Monday, marking the army’s fourth intrusion into the facility amid ongoing hostilities.
The largest hospital in the Gaza Strip is sheltering thousands, including medical staff, patients, and displaced families.
Meanwhile, Al Jazeera Media Network has demanded the “immediate release” of its correspondent and the other journalists who were arrested alongside Alghoul.
“Al Jazeera condemns the ongoing crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces against journalists and media professionals in Gaza and renews its call for an immediate halt to these horrific attacks,” Al Jazeera said in a statement.
Witnesses reported that Alghoul was forcibly taken by Israeli soldiers, who also targeted the broadcasting equipment of various news teams present. Furthermore, Al Jazeera reported that Alghoul and his team members were subjected to torture and beating by the Israeli military.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called for the immediate release of the journalists detained by the Israeli forces.
“We’re deeply alarmed and outraged by reports of the assault on an Al-Jazeera reporter, Ismail Al-Ghoul from Al-Shifa Hospital, and other journalists while doing their jobs reporting on the Israeli offensive on the hospital,” said CPJ Program Director Carlos Martinez de la Serna.
He continued, “The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) should immediately release Al-Ghoul and other detained Palestinian journalists and take steps to protect the members of the media covering this war.”
The Ministry of Health in Gaza said that Israeli forces attacked a building within the hospital’s premises, resulting in Palestinian casualties, including deaths and injuries. Additionally, a portion of the hospital’s courtyard was reportedly bulldozed during the operation.
Over 80 individuals, including women in the medical staff and other journalists, were arrested in the raid.
Israel claims that Hamas, the governing authority of the besieged Gaza Strip, has taken refuge within Al-Shifa Hospital, utilising it as a command centre for orchestrating attacks against Israeli targets.
Hamas is recognised as a terrorist organisation by Israel, the United States, and the European Union, among others.
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