Death toll of journalist martyrs in Gaza rises to 261 after the martyrdom of Qatar Radio correspondent

Official sources in the Gaza Strip reported an increase in the death toll of journalistic and media personnel to 261 martyrs since October 8, 2023. This announcement came after the martyrdom of journalist Amal Mohammed Shamali, 46 years old, who was working as a correspondent for Qatar Radio, following an Israeli airstrike that targeted her displacement location at dawn on Monday.

Local sources stated that the Israeli shelling directly targeted tents housing displaced people in the Al-Sawarah area, west of Al-Zawaida in the central Gaza Strip. This raid resulted in the martyrdom of journalist Shamali, along with Ms. Nour Saleh Al-Shallalfa and child Salsabil Anwar Faraj, in addition to the injury of about ten other citizens with varying degrees of injuries, who were subsequently transferred to nearby hospitals.

For its part, the Government Media Office in Gaza condemned what it described as the systematic and continuous targeting of Palestinian journalists by the occupation forces. The office called on human rights organizations and international and Arab journalistic unions to urgently intervene to condemn these crimes and prosecute the occupation leaders in international courts to pressure for an end to the genocide and to provide the necessary protection for media crews.

This crime comes amidst the continued Israeli violations of the ceasefire agreement concluded on October 10, 2025, with statistics indicating the martyrdom of 648 Palestinians and the injury of 1728 others due to daily breaches since the agreement was signed. Children, women, and the elderly represent about 46% of the total victims of these ongoing breaches in various areas of the Strip.

Regarding the total losses, the American-backed genocide war has resulted in more than 72,000 martyrs and about 172,000 injured, with massive destruction affecting 90% of civilian infrastructure. UN reports estimate the cost of rebuilding what the occupation destroyed at about 70 billion dollars, amidst a catastrophic humanitarian situation experienced by the residents of the besieged Strip.

The number of journalist martyrs has risen to 261 journalist martyrs since the beginning of the genocide war on the Gaza Strip.