Israeli Army Claims Al Jazeera Cameraman Was Hamas Member; Network Denounces Killing as War Crime
On June 20, 2026, Ahmad Washah, a cameraman for the Al Jazeera network, was martyred in an Israeli drone strike that targeted a residential home in the Al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.
The attack left at least three people dead and several others wounded.
The incident occurred less than three months after the martyrdom of his brother, Muhammad Washah – also an Al Jazeera journalist – who was killed in a separate Israeli airstrike on a vehicle along Al-Rashid Street in western Gaza City on April 6, 2026.
Al Jazeera strongly condemned the attack, describing it as a “horrific crime” and a blatant violation of international law.
The network accused Israeli forces of carrying out a systematic policy of targeting journalists in order to silence the truth and obscure the realities of the war in Gaza.
In response, the Israeli military confirmed that it had carried out the strike but claimed that Ahmad Washah was a member of Hamas and a “sharpshooter” involved in militant activities.
However, Israeli authorities have provided no public evidence to substantiate this allegation, and Al Jazeera has categorically rejected the claim as a baseless pretext to justify the killing of its staff.
According to reports, Washah is the 13th Al Jazeera employee to be martyred by Israeli forces since the outbreak of the current conflict in Gaza.
Human rights organizations and press freedom advocates have repeatedly warned that the rising death toll among journalists in Gaza points to a pattern of deliberate targeting, which may constitute war crimes under international humanitarian law.
Calls for an independent international investigation into the killings have intensified, though Israeli authorities have consistently dismissed such demands, maintaining that all its strikes are conducted in accordance with military protocol and target only combatants.
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