Israeli strike kills imam while preparing Quran education report in Gaza

A Palestinian imam and religious radio presenter was killed Wednesday in an Israeli drone strike while he was preparing a media report on Quran memorization in the southern Gaza Strip, according to an official.

Mohammed Abdul Aziz al-Najjar, 38, was an imam as well as a producer and presenter of religious programs at Quran Radio, affiliated with Gaza’s Ministry of Endowments and Religious Affairs.

Ikrami al-Mudallal, the ministry’s media director, told Anadolu that al-Najjar was targeted by an Israeli drone strike “while carrying out his work producing media material related to Quran memorization.”

A medical source at Nasser Hospital said al-Najjar’s body and another victim with moderate injuries were brought to the hospital following the strike in the Al-Mawasi area of Al-Qarara in northwestern Khan Younis.

The Endowments Ministry mourned al-Najjar, saying he had carried out his media and religious work “with sincerity and dedication.”

Al-Najjar also served as imam of the Ibad al-Rahman Mosque in Khuza’a in eastern Khan Younis, an area currently under Israeli military control, according to al-Mudallal.

His death brought the number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks Wednesday in Gaza to seven.

Five Palestinians were killed earlier in an Israeli strike on a vehicle pulling a passenger cart in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood of southern Gaza City.

A Palestinian woman, Iman Abdul Aal, was also killed and her husband critically injured in an Israeli airstrike on a home on Al-Wahda Street in Gaza City early Wednesday.

Israeli violations of a ceasefire agreement have killed 1,431 Palestinians and injured 5,026, according to figures released Wednesday by Gaza’s Health Ministry.

Since Oct. 8, 2023, Israel has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians and injured over 175,000 in Gaza, according to Palestinian figures. Around 90% of the enclave’s infrastructure has been destroyed.