Israeli army confirms killing director of Al-Quds Today channel in Gaza

The Israeli army confirmed on Friday it killed the director of Al-Quds Today channel Wael Abu Fannouna in the Gaza Strip, claiming that he held the position of deputy head of the media system affiliated with the Islamic Jihad movement.

"Yesterday, Thursday, Wael Abu Fanouna, Deputy Head of the Media System affiliated with the Islamic Jihad, was eliminated in an airstrike carried out by the air force under the guidance of the Military Intelligence and the General Security Service," the Israeli army said in a statement.

The army added, "Wael Abu Fannouna previously worked as an assistant to Khalil al-Bahtini, the leader of the northern region in Islamic Jihad. Later, he was promoted in 2017 to the position of deputy head of the media system affiliated with the organization."

It further claimed that Abu Fannouna was "responsible for disseminating videos released by the Islamic Jihad regarding the launch of rocket attacks towards Israeli territories, and the production and dissemination of videos of Israeli hostages as part of the psychological war waged by organizations in Gaza against Israeli citizens."

On Thursday, Al-Quds Today channel announced on Telegram that it "mourns the journalist colleague Wael Rajab Abu Fannouna, the general director of the channel, in a heinous Zionist targeting in the city of Gaza."

The Gaza media office, after Abu Fannouna's death, announced an increase in the number of journalists killed due to Israeli airstrikes to 119 since the start of the war on Gaza.

Since Oct. 7, 2023, the Israeli army has been waging a destructive war on Gaza, resulting in 24,620 deaths, 61,830 wounded, and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe, causing the displacement of more than 85% (about 1.9 million people) of the Gaza Strip's population, according to Palestinian authorities and the United Nations.