Rami Al Refee, a 27-year-old Palestinian camera operator who worked for the local National News Agency and was freelancing for Al Jazeera during the Israel-Gaza war, was killed in an Israeli strike on a car he and his colleague Ismail Al Ghoul were using in Al Shatei camp, near Gaza City, according to Al Jazeera and multiple news reports.
Al Ghoul and Al Refee were covering the aftermath of the assassination of the senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, reporting from in front of Haniyeh’s home in Gaza an hour before they were killed.
Al Jazeera said in its live coverage that Al Ghoul and Al Refee were leaving the scene after an Israeli strike hit a building near Haniyeh’s home. Al Jazeera northern Gaza correspondent Anas Al Sharif said that the journalists in the area left in two vehicles, Al Ghoul and Al Refee’s car was hit about five minutes later. That account is similar to that of Al Araby TV’s correspondent, Islam Badr, who said that no clashes were taking place in the area.
Al Jazeera said that it believes the journalists were deliberately targeted.
The broadcaster aired videos of the first moments after the strike hit the journalists’ vehicle, showing the car moving backwards from the impact. It also broadcast footage filmed by journalists and first responders in the scene, showing Al Ghoul and Al Refee being removed from the car. Al Sharif said that Al Ghoul’s head was severed from his body. The journalists’ bodies were taken to Al Maamadani hospital, where colleagues said their last goodbyes.
In a statement, Al Jazeera Media Network said that Israeli forces targeted Al Ghoul and Al Refee’s vehicle with a missile, “resulting in a cold-blooded assassination.” The network pledged to “pursue all legal actions to prosecute the perpetrators of these crimes and stands in unwavering solidarity with all journalists in Gaza.”
Al Refee was buried in Gaza City on July 31, 2024.