Marking 300 days of war in Gaza saw yet more tragedy on Wednesday with the reported deaths of Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and cameraman Rami al-Refee and an unidentified child after a blast struck their car in Gaza city as they were leaving.The two journalists had been reporting about the aftermath of the assassination of senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, in front of his home and birthplace at the Al-Shati refugee camp, who was killed in Wednesday’s pre-dawn Israeli strike in Iran’s capital, Tehran. Haniyeh had been in attendance for Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian’s swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday.

On Tuesday evening an Israeli strike in Beirut, Lebanon, also killed Fuad Shukr, a leading Hezbollah military commander.“With a heavy heart” mourning the loss of colleague Ismail al-Ghoul, Al Jazeera’s Managing Editor, Mohamed Moawad wrote on X: “Without Ismail, the world would not have seen the devastating images of these massacres”. He also said that Ismail “relentlessly covered the events and delivered the reality of Gaza to the world through Al Jazeera”.Adding also:

“His voice has now been silenced, and there is no longer a need to call out to the world. Ismail fulfilled his mission to his people and his homeland. Shame on those who have failed the civilians, journalists and humanity.”

In May a new law allowing the closure of media outlets considered to be a threat to security by Israel’s government led to the closure of Al Jazeera's offices in the country.Preliminary investigations by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) as of Aug 1, 2024, found that at least 113 journalists and media workers were amongst the 39,000 killed in Gaza.

Jodie Ginsberg, CPJ’s CEO said: “Journalists are civilians and should never be targeted.” The chief also asked Israel to offer an explanation, saying: “Israel must explain why two more Al Jazeera journalists have been killed in what appears to be a direct strike.”As Al Jazeera journalist Yousef al-Saudi removed the “PRESS” sign from the jacket he commented on how their “colleague Ismail was wearing this blood-stained vest”, and that “The sign was covered by blood to silence the world and the images in Gaza. The pictures continue and the coverage continues, God willing.”Al Jazeera’s managing editor also posted on X @moawady a message written by Ismail al-Ghoul as a “tribute to himself and the dying humanity”:

“Let me tell you, my friend, that I no longer know the taste of sleep. The bodies of children and the screams of the injured and their blood-soaked images never leave my sight. The cries of mothers and the wailing of men who are missing their loved ones never fade from my hearing.I can no longer bear the sound of children’s voices from beneath the rubble, nor can I forget the energy and power that reverberates at every moment, turning into a nightmare. It is no longer easy for me to stand before the rows of coffins, which are locked and extended, or to see the dead people more than the living who are fighting death beneath their homes, not finding a way out to safety and survival.I am tired, my friend…”