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Al Jazeera correspondent Ismail Abu Omar and fellow photographer Ahmed Matar were seriously injured following an Israeli drone attack in the Mirage area, north of the city of Rafah, located in the southern Gaza Strip.
Al-Jazeera correspondent Moamen Al-Sharafi reported that an Israeli drone fired at least one missile towards the two colleagues in direct targeting, which immediately led to the amputation of colleague Ismail Abu Omar’s right leg and the severe injury of his left leg. He also sustained serious injuries throughout his body as a result of fragments of the missile.
Al-Sharafi added that photographer Ahmed Matar was seriously injured in one of his hands, as well as wounds throughout the rest of his body. They were transported by eyewitnesses to a field hospital in the area for first aid, before ambulances arrived and transported them to the European Hospital.
Al Jazeera's correspondent indicated that the two colleagues were admitted to the operating room to undergo urgent and emergency surgeries.
A video clip obtained by Al Jazeera showed the condition of the two colleagues immediately after they were targeted by the Israeli drone, and showed them wearing protective vests with the press mark clearly visible on them that could not be missed by the naked eye, in addition to monitoring and photographic cameras.
Yesterday, Monday, the government media office in the Gaza Strip announced the martyrdom of two Palestinian journalists as a result of Israeli bombing on the city of Rafah and the town of Jabalia, south and north of the Strip, raising the number of martyred journalists to 126 since last October 7.
As a result of the ongoing aggression against the Gaza Strip since last October 7 - which left tens of thousands of civilian victims - Israel faces accusations of committing genocide before the International Court of Justice for the first time in its history.
The government media in Gaza condemned the Israeli occupation army's targeting of the Al Jazeera channel crew for the fifth time, and said that targeting the crew comes within the framework of intimidating journalists and a failed attempt to obscure the truth.
Source: Al Jazeera