Al Jazeera says Gaza journalist beaten, arrested by Israeli forces

Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera said Israeli forces had beaten and arrested its correspondent Ismail Alghoul during a raid Monday on Gaza’s largest hospital, and urged his release.

The Israeli army said it was battling Hamas militants at the Al-Shifa hospital. Witnesses reported air strikes and tanks near the facility which was crowded with patients and displaced people.

“Al Jazeera Media Network demands the immediate release of its correspondent and the other journalists who were detained alongside him, and holds the occupation forces fully responsible for their safety,” the channel said in a statement to AFP.

“Ismail Alghoul was arrested this morning inside Al-Shifa Hospital along with a number of journalists while covering the Israeli occupation forces’ attack on the hospital. According to eyewitnesses, Ismail was severely beaten and taken to an unknown location,” it added.

The network said a broadcast vehicle with cameras and other equipment was destroyed following the arrests.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

An Al Jazeera source, who was not authorized to brief the press and spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP that five other people were arrested including Alghoul’s camera crew and engineers.

The United States, Israel’s close ally, said it was aware of the incident and had asked the Israeli government for more information.

“In general, we have been very clear that journalists play a vital role and that no journalists should be targeted in order to silence their voices in this conflict or any other,” State Department spokesman Vedant Patel told reporters.

Last month the network accused Israel of systematically targeting Al Jazeera employees working in Gaza.

As of Monday, at least 95 journalists and media workers had been confirmed dead in the Israel-Hamas war, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), citing “preliminary investigations.”

Of those 90 were Palestinians, CPJ said.

Two Al Jazeera journalists have been killed during Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza, while bureau chief Wael Al-Dahdouh was wounded.

“The network emphasizes that this targeting serves as an intimidation tactic against journalists to deter them from reporting the horrific crimes committed by the occupation forces against innocent civilians in Gaza,” the channel said.

“The targeting of Ismail Alghoul is part of a series of systematic attacks on Al Jazeera by the occupation authorities,” it added.

The war in Gaza was triggered by Hamas’s unprecedented attack on southern Israel which resulted in the deaths of about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli figures.

Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 31,726 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.