A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Israel has now killed 245 journalists in Gaza, according to Palestinian press groups. That's after an Israeli attack on a Gaza hospital Monday killed five journalists working with international media organizations, including Reuters and the Associated Press. Joining us now to discuss this is NPR's international correspondent, Aya Batrawy, in Dubai. And just a warning - this conversation is going to include some disturbing sounds, including airstrikes, and it'll last about four minutes. So, Aya, let's start with yesterday's attack. Tell us what happened.
AYA BATRAWY, BYLINE: Hi, A. Yeah, so this was an attack on the biggest hospital that is still functioning in Gaza, and it began like this. A Reuters cameraman, Hussam al-Masri, was at his usual location at the top of an exposed stairwell on the side of the hospital, with a camera providing a live feed with a bird's-eye view of the surrounding area. That includes Israeli tanks and positions nearby. And so then at around 10 a.m., the live feed cuts. He was directly hit and killed in an Israeli strike. So other journalists, first responders, medical staff, they all rushed to the stairwell to see what happened. And as they're standing there and as rescue workers are retrieving his body, this happens. Have a listen.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Non-English language spoken).
(SOUNDBITE OF EXPLOSIONS)
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON: (Shouting in non-English language).
BATRAWY: So that's another Israeli strike directly on the same spot. And all 22 people, including five journalists, were killed.
MARTÍNEZ: What did Israel have to say about these back-to-back attacks?
BATRAWY: The military said it was launching an inquiry and said it does not intentionally target journalists. The Israeli prime minister's office, much later in the day, then issued a rare statement of regret, calling it a tragic mishap. But the Committee to Protect Journalists said that, quote, "Israel's broadcasted killing of journalists in Gaza represents the most horrific attacks the press has ever faced in recent history." And the editors-in-chief of Reuters and the AP wrote a letter to Israeli leaders saying that although the military says it does not target journalists in Gaza, they have found the military's, quote, "willingness and ability to investigate itself to rarely result in action." And they say this raises serious questions about whether Israel is deliberately targeting journalists to suppress information in Gaza.
MARTÍNEZ: Just a couple of weeks ago, another Israeli attack killed six journalists, five of them working for Al Jazeera. That included its top reporter Anas al-Sharif. Tell us how these attacks are kind of impacting reporting out of Gaza.
BATRAWY: Ultimately, it means we are left with fewer and fewer people to report the story from Gaza and bear witness to what is happening, especially as Israel announces plans to fully occupy the territory and push the entire population into a tent camp in the south. Now, Israel has been banning independent access to foreign journalists to Gaza since the start of this war in 2023. We can only enter Gaza as journalists if we're with the Israeli military spokespeople being shown what they want us to see.
MARTÍNEZ: So what are you hearing from the Palestinian journalists still in Gaza?
BATRAWY: In part, you know, the difficulty of conveying the magnitude of what's happening and what they're experiencing is that it's happening to them as well. You know, we are working closely with our producer in Gaza, Anas Baba. He's one of the only reporters there still working full time for an American news organization, and he's doing this difficult work while facing military displacement orders, struggling to find food, firewood to cook with, even clean water to drink. Every aspect of his life, from charging his phone to finding internet, is a challenge.
And then there's the emotional toll. Have a listen to Hind Khoudary. She's a correspondent with Al Jazeera English in Gaza. And yesterday, here she is reporting on the deaths of her friends and colleagues at the hospital.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
HIND KHOUDARY: Palestinian journalists right now are crying. If I show you my colleagues that are sitting, between the reporting and between their live shifts, they're trying to hold their tears. They're trying to find the words to describe what's going on.
BATRAWY: And, A, journalists in Gaza say they are being targeted, and they wonder who from among them is going to be next.
MARTÍNEZ: That's NPR international correspondent Aya Batrawy. Thank you very much.
BATRAWY: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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