Ahmed Wishah, a journalist for Al Jazeera, was killed on Saturday in the Bureij refugee camp in Gaza, just weeks after his brother Mohammed Wishah, also working for the Doha-based network, was killed in a targeted shelling on their car.
In his early 20s, Ahmed was the 12th Al Jazeera journalist killed by Israel in Gaza, a place considered the deadliest for journalists worldwide. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least 260 Palestinian journalists have died since Israel launched its war in October 2023.
Ahmed, working as a cameraman for Al Jazeera Mubasher, was killed in an Israeli airstrike on a house. Two other Palestinians also died in the attack, despite a ceasefire in place since October 2025.
Born in the al-Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, Ahmed Samir Mohammed Wishah was the youngest of three brothers. He became prominent during the war by accompanying and filming his brother Mohammed, an Al Jazeera Mubasher reporter killed on April 8 in an Israeli shelling.
The two formed a media duo documenting the suffering of the Palestinian people. In an interview after his brother's death, Ahmed urged the world to stop the killing of journalists: 'Let the martyrdom of Mohammed Wishah be the end of killing journalists. This is my message to the world. Someone should stop the occupiers from targeting journalists.'
Colleague Talal Mahmoud, an Al Jazeera Mubasher reporter in Gaza, recalled: 'I knew Ahmed from the start of the war. He was always there, accompanying his brother Mohammed in the tent where he stayed. He became not just a friend but a colleague. The last time I saw Ahmed was a few days before his death, when he brought Maftoul from his mother to pray for Mohammed's soul.'
Mohammad Al-Akhras, a photojournalist for CGTN, remembered Ahmed as 'a kind, gentle, and principled person who brought a cheerful spirit to colleagues. He worked with true passion, his ultimate goal being to convey the people's message and suffering. He always talked about martyrdom and paradise. When we jokingly asked, 'Don't you want to get married?', he replied: 'My wedding will be in paradise.' He achieved what he prayed for.'
On the Israeli side, a military spokesman accused Ahmed Wishah of being a 'Hamas terrorist' without providing evidence. Al Jazeera rejected the accusation as 'baseless,' calling it a 'smear campaign.' The network vowed to take all legal steps to prosecute the perpetrators, despite Israeli military efforts to 'silence the voice of truth.' The CPJ previously condemned Israel for 'smearing slain Palestinian journalists,' noting a pattern of accusing journalists of terrorism without credible evidence.
