Journalist who uncovered decomposing babies in Gaza is shot, injured

Hajar Harb, Miriam Berger and Niha Masih

Dec 19 2023

AL MASHHAD NEWS
TV journalist Mohammed Balousha, working for Emirati-owned Al Mashhad channel, was shot and injured in Gaza on Saturday.

Television journalist Mohammed Balousha filmed a report about the communications blackout in Gaza on Saturday afternoon, working near his home in Jabalya in the north.

But as he turned to return home, he suddenly fell. He was shot in his thigh, he told The Washington Post by phone on Sunday.

Balousha, who works for the Emirati-owned Al Mashhad channel, was wearing a helmet and press badge. He said he thought an Israeli sniper hidden in a nearby residential building shot him. The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Israel-Gaza war has been devastating for journalists, with at least 64 killed and 13 wounded, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). The risks are gravest for Palestinian reporters based in Gaza, who must keep themselves safe while also dealing with the loss of their homes, families and colleagues

A day before Balousha was injured, elsewhere in Gaza, an Israeli drone strike killed Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa and injured correspondent Wael al-Dahdouh while they were out reporting, the Qatari channel said. It accused Israeli forces of preventing rescue workers from reaching Abu Daqqa, who was "left to bleed to death for over 5 hours."

In response, the IDF said it "has never, and will never, deliberately target journalists."

Countering Al Jazeera's claims, the IDF said it approved a "safe route" for ambulances to reach the journalist, but the vehicles took a different route and were unable to pass through a damaged road. "When the army became aware of the obstruction, a tractor and troops were dispatched to open the road, but unfortunately, it had already been too late," the IDF said in a statement.

Al Jazeera said it will refer the case to the International Criminal Court.

In late November, Balousha broke the story that four premature babies left behind at al-Nasr Children's Hospital after Israel forced the staff to evacuate without ambulances had died, and their bodies had decomposed. Balousha was interviewed by The Post for a story about the incident.

Shani Sasson, a spokesperson for the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), had earlier told The Post that Israeli forces neither directed al-Nasr's staff to evacuate nor operated inside the facility, but declined to answer whether COGAT or the Israeli military had been told about the babies or taken any action to care for them.

After he was shot on Saturday, Balousha said he fell to the ground and lay unconscious for about 20 minutes.

When he awoke, he struggled to reach the second floor of his house, where he keeps a first-aid kit. "Due to the severity of the pain and bleeding, and because my left foot was twisted behind me, it was not easy for me to climb the stairs," he said.

It took Balousha six hours to make it to the second floor. A video he took of his injuries showed heavy bleeding from his left leg.

He bandaged his wounds and tried to stop the bleeding as best he could. About 4 a.m., a friend called him by chance, but it took his friends two hours to reach him amid the threat of fighting.

"They transferred me onto a wooden board attached to a wheelchair and we walked a kilometre" to a local clinic, Balousha said. Medical volunteers there changed his bandages, gave him an injection and transferred him by ambulance to another health centre.

The doctor told Balousha that his thigh had a double fracture. He needed surgery, which could only be done at al-Ahli Hospital, the last functioning operating facility in northern Gaza.

The ambulance headed out but had to turn back because Israeli tanks blocked the way to the hospital, Balousha said. With no other option for surgery in Jabalya, he returned home.

Balousha accused Israel of directly targeting him as a journalist. "I was wearing everything to prove that I was a journalist, but they deliberately targeted me, and now I am struggling to get the treatment necessary to preserve my life," he said.

Al Mashhad TV said in a statement that it "holds the Israeli government responsible" for Balousha's safety and that the agency was trying to evacuate him from Gaza.

A CPJ report published in May, on the cases of 20 journalists whose deaths it attributed to the Israel Defense Forces since 2001, highlighted a pattern in Israel's response: No one has been held accountable for them.

Evan Hill contributed to this report.