The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) strongly condemns the extrajudicial killing carried out by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) against journalist Mohammed Wishah, an Al Jazeera Mubasher correspondent, following the targeting of his vehicle in western Gaza City. This assassination forms part of a systematic policy targeting journalists and media professionals, reflecting a clear tendency to silence voices that expose the reality of the genocide and ongoing aggression to international public opinion.
According to information collected by PCHR’s field researcher, at approximately 18:50 on Wednesday, 8 April 2026, an Israeli drone fired a missile at a civilian Hyundai vehicle while it was traveling near al-Nabulsi intersection on al-Rasheed Street in western Gaza City. Journalist Mohammed Samir Wishah (40) was inside the vehicle and was killed instantly; the vehicle was completely burned. The attack also injured seven passersby, who sustained varying degrees of injury.
Journalist Wishah had been subjected to a campaign of incitement and threats by the IOF, including allegations of his affiliation with Palestinian factions, as part of a recurring pattern used to justify the targeting of journalists and to undermine the protections afforded to them under international law.
With the killing of journalist Wishah, the number of journalists killed by the IOF since 7 October 2023 has risen to 262, including dozens who were killed while on duty, while others were killed in attacks on their homes and shelters or during large-scale bombardments. Hundreds of journalists have also sustained varying degrees of injury, while others have been arrested. In addition, social media activists have been subjected to incitement campaigns and death threats.
IOF continue to violate the ceasefire on a daily basis through airstrikes, artillery shelling, and gunfire. As a result, 737 Palestinians have been killed and 2,035 injured since 10 October 2025. This brings the total number of casualties during the Israeli aggression since 7 October 2023 to 72,316 killed and 172,137 injured, according to the Ministry of Health.
PCHR believes that targeting journalists aims to isolate civilians in the Gaza Strip from the outside world and conceal the reality of the genocide and its repercussions. The systematic killing of journalists forms part of the crimes committed against the civilian population and falls under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court pursuant to Article 8 of the Rome Statute. It also constitutes a grave violation of the right to life guaranteed under Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and entails individual criminal accountability. PCHR emphasizes that ongoing impunity has encouraged the Israeli authorities to further escalate the targeting and assassination of journalists.
PCHR calls on the international community to uphold its legal and moral responsibilities and to exert immediate and effective pressure on Israel to cease targeting journalists and to ensure the provision of genuine international protection for civilians, including journalists.
PCHR also calls on the United Nations and the High Contracting Parties to the Geneva Conventions to activate accountability mechanisms and international pressure to ensure respect for the rules of international humanitarian law and the protection of civilians.
PCHR urges the International Federation of Journalists and all international journalists’ bodies to take coordinated and practical steps to hold the Israeli authorities accountable for crimes committed against journalists in the occupied Palestinian territory, particularly in the Gaza Strip.
PCHR also calls on the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression to intensify efforts to investigate crimes targeting journalists and media professionals, and to work towards ensuring the protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression.
