DEPUTY Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, has expressed profound sympathy to the families of five Al Jazeera journalists killed in what he described as a deliberate Israeli military strike in Gaza City.
In a statement published via Facebook on Monday evening, Ahmad Zahid honoured the fallen journalists for their courage and commitment to truth-telling in conflict zones.
“They died while carrying out the noble duty of delivering the truth and reporting the reality on the ground to open the world’s eyes to the suffering of the Palestinian people,” he wrote.
“Their courage and sacrifice are proof that the struggle to uphold justice will never fade, even when lives are at stake.”
The strike, which took place outside Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital, claimed the lives of Anas al-Sharif, Mohammed Qreiqeh, Ibrahim Zaher, Moamen Aliwa and Mohammed Noufal—all affiliated with Al Jazeera.
Ahmad Zahid condemned the attack in the strongest terms, describing it as “a cruel act that clearly violates international humanitarian law.”
He reaffirmed Malaysia’s unwavering support for Palestine, adding that the government will continue to voice its concerns on global platforms and demand an immediate end to attacks on journalists and humanitarian workers.
“May their souls be blessed and placed among the martyrs,” he said.
The incident occurred amid a series of deadly Israeli strikes across Gaza, where reports say dozens more were killed, including civilians seeking aid. The killings have reignited calls for greater international accountability and protection for journalists operating in war zones.
AP reported today that Israeli forces killed at least 55 people across the Gaza Strip overnight and into Monday, including a well-known journalist Israel said was a militant as well as people seeking humanitarian aid, according to local health officials.
Hospital officials reported at least 34 people were killed on Monday, not including journalists who were slain in a tent shortly before midnight.
More than 15 people were killed while waiting for aid at the Zikim crossing in northern Gaza, said Fares Awad, head of the ambulance services in northern Gaza.
Israel’s military did not immediately respond to questions about the deaths. Earlier on Monday, it said air and artillery units were operating in northern Gaza and in Khan Younis, where resident Noha Abu Shamala told The Associated Press that two drone strikes killed a family of seven in their apartment.
Among the dead were at least 12 aid seekers killed by Israeli gunfire while trying to reach distribution points, or awaiting aid convoys, according to officials at two hospitals and witnesses.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said its Saraya Field Hospital received about 30 injured from the Zikim area. Al-Shifa hospital received five bodies and over 70 wounded, said Mohamed Abu Selmiya, the hospital’s director.
Relatives said casualties included children and an infant. Witnesses to gunfire near the Morag corridor said they saw barrages of bullets and later dead bodies, describing the grim scene as a near-daily occurrence.
The AP spoke to five witnesses who were among the crowds in central Gaza, the Teina area and the Morag corridor. All said that Israeli forces had fired toward the crowds.
“The occupation (forces) targeted us, as they do every day,” said Hussain Matter, a displaced father of two who was in the Morag corridor. “Out of nowhere, you find bullets from everywhere.”
Ahmed Atta said he helped carry a wounded man from the Teina area who had been shot in his shoulder and was bleeding. “It’s a pattern,” Atta said of the Israeli gunfire toward aid seekers.
Aid seekers were killed from 3 kilometers (nearly 2 miles) to just hundreds of meters (yards) from sites operated by the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, according to Nasser and Awda hospitals.
The United States and Israel support the American contractor as an alternative to the United Nations, which they say allows Hamas to siphon off aid. The U.N., which has delivered aid throughout Gaza for decades when conditions allow, denies the allegations.
The latest deaths raise the toll to more than 1,700 people killed while seeking food since the new aid distribution system began in May, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
U.N. agencies generally do not accept Israeli military escorts for aid trucks, citing concerns over neutrality, and its convoys have come under fire amid severe food shortages.
The deaths came hours after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called reports about conditions in Gaza a “global campaign of lies,” and announced plans to move deeper into the territory and push to dismantle Hamas.
Five more Palestinians, including a child, died of malnutrition-related causes in Gaza in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said.
Israel increased the flow of supplies two weeks ago amid such concerns.
Israeli strike targets and kills Al Jazeera journalists
Israel’s military targeted an Al Jazeera correspondent with an airstrike Sunday, killing him. The strike killed a total of eight people, including six journalists and two other civilians, according to Shifa Hospital. Press advocates described the attack as a brazen assault on those documenting the war.
The network said that along with its correspondent, four others of the slain journalists also worked for Al Jazeera.
The Israeli military claimed responsibility for the strike. It came less than a year after Israeli army officials first accused correspondent Anas al-Sharif and other Al Jazeera journalists of being members of the militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, an allegation that Al Jazeera and al-Sharif have previously dismissed as baseless.
Al Jazeera called the strike a “targeted assassination” while press freedom groups denounced the rising death toll facing Palestinian journalists working in Gaza. Mourners laid the journalists to rest in Gaza City.
Hamas-led militants abducted 251 people and killed around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, in the Oct. 7, 2023, attack that triggered the war. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefires or other deals but 50 remain inside Gaza. Israel believes around 20 are still alive.
Israel’s air and ground offensive has since displaced most of the population, destroyed vast areas and pushed the territory toward famine. It has killed more than 61,400 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not say how many were fighters or civilians but says around half were women and children. - August 12, 2025
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