The Palestinian Journalists’ Syndicate has slammed Israel’s assertion that the slain Al Jazeera correspondent was a member of Hamas’s elite fighting unit, saying that the Israeli statement is an “official” admission of guilt.
Al-Ghoul and his companion cameraman Rami al-Rifi were killed in a direct Israeli air raid on their vehicle in the Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza on Wednesday.
The Israeli military claimed on Thursday – without evidence – that al-Ghoul was a fighter with the Palestinian group, boasting that he was “eliminated”.
The Syndicate ridiculed the allegation, noting that the journalist had been previously detained and released by Israeli forces.
“Millions of viewers and followers of the war on Gaza have watched al-Ghoul daily fulfilling his role as a journalist, and he was on air with Al Jazeera channel hours before his assassination,” it said.
“Throughout the war, he has been moving in his press gear and vehicle in northern Gaza – an area under the occupation of Israeli forces, which controls it with dozens of military drones that never leave its sky. So, how could he move around all this time if he were wanted?”
Al Jazeera Media Network had also denounced the “baseless” Israeli claim.
Source: AlJazeeera
