A new atrocity in Gaza. Israeli forces have killed an Al Jazeera cameraman, the latest journalist to die in a conflict where the press has become a target. The man, identified as Ahmad al-Bawwab, was filming near a hospital when shrapnel from an airstrike hit him. He died on the way to the emergency room, his camera still rolling. The footage is now evidence in a war crimes investigation that will likely go nowhere.
Sources on the ground confirm at least 12 other civilians died in the same strike. The bodies were pulled from rubble hours later, children among them. No one has claimed responsibility, but the coordinates match those of an Israeli drone operation.
The UK Foreign Office has issued a statement condemning the civilian toll, calling for restraint. But words are cheap. The British government continues to export arms to Israel, components that end up in F-16s and attack helicopters. The same hardware that killed Ahmad al-Bawwab.
Ahmad was 38. He leaves behind a wife and three children. His colleagues at Al Jazeera say he was a cautious man who always wore a press vest. It didn't save him. The vest is now in a evidence bag, bloodstained and shredded.
This is not an isolated incident. Since the start of the current offensive, at least 20 journalists have been killed in Gaza, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The Israeli Defence Forces claim they do not target media, but a pattern of strikes on press offices and broadcast vans suggests otherwise. A report by Forensic Architecture has documented at least five deliberate attacks on journalists in the past month.
The UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions has called for an independent inquiry. But Israel rejects UN mandates as biased. The United States has vetoed every recent Security Council resolution on the matter. So nothing changes. The killing continues.
I have seen the CCTV footage from a nearby building. A drone hovered for 40 seconds before firing a missile exactly where the cameraman was standing. The angle suggests it was taken from an Israeli observation post. The military will argue it was a mistake, a weapon malfunction. They always do.
The UK's condemnation rings hollow when the arms deals keep flowing. Trade data shows British companies exported £42 million worth of military equipment to Israel in the first half of this year alone. That money buys bombs. Bombs kill civilians.
Ahmad al-Bawwab died doing his job. He was not a combatant. He was a witness. And now witnesses are being eliminated systematically. The question is not whether this was a war crime. The question is when the world will stop pretending it's an accident.
